Good morning.
With President Joe Biden’s announcement that he won’t seek re-election, all eyes have turned to Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic nominee. We’re already seeing headlines reminding us that she’s a Black, Asian-American woman who’s “eminently qualified” to run for the top job. More on that later.
Tech leaders have been among the most willing to flag a favorite in the presidential race so far. Last week, after Donald Trump survived an assassination attempt and chose Sen. J.D. Vance (R–Ohio) as his running mate, Elon Musk said he’d spend $180 million to help elect Trump, despite the Republican nominee’s vow to end subsidies for EVs. Also supporting the Trump ticket are Musk’s fellow PayPal Mafia alums David O. Sacks and Peter Thiel, who co-wrote a book called The Diversity Myth almost 30 years ago—a bold stance for two white men raised in South Africa to take as apartheid was being dismantled.
Most leaders don’t pick a side, arguing politics is personal. So many were surprised to see VCs Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz voice support for Trump last week, with the latter saying the future of technology and America was “literally at stake.” Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg described Trump’s reaction to being shot as “badass,” though he declined to officially endorse the man who called Facebook an “Enemy of the People.”
What seems to unite tech leaders on both sides of the aisle is a sense that the next four years of policy will be critical in determining the innovation landscape.
One of the first tech leaders to react enthusiastically to the news of Biden dropping out was Box CEO Aaron Levie. In a call yesterday, Levie told me of his support for the Democrats’ “full platform of business and social issues” and his frustration with their approach.
“A lot of people wish the Democratic party would stop shooting themselves in the foot,” he said. “I’d love to see them present a very clear tech policy.”
To him, that means supporting entrepreneurship, AI, and immigration policies that enable employers to hire skilled talent. While Biden’s CHIPS Act is a plus, Levie says, the administration’s regulatory moves and proposed tax on unrealized capital gains are not. Says Levie: “Without unrealized capital gains, you literally don’t have money to invest in equity, in startups.” Like many of his peers, Levie hopes that Bay Area-born Harris will promote conditions for Silicon Valley to thrive.
I did speak to one woman CEO yesterday who issued a missive that I’ll take to heart. “Please just cover [Harris] like you would cover a man in that role.” Given our instinct to hone in on women’s fertility, footwear, and feminine characteristics when covering them, I knew what she meant. I’m already hearing journalists compare Harris to Hillary Clinton and repeat insults that she’s ‘cackling’ or a ‘DEI’ candidate. Maybe that’s just politics or the mini-me syndrome that’s not unusual in places like Silicon Valley, where some seem to only recognize excellence in a form that reminds them of themselves.
More news below.
Diane Brady
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TOP NEWS
The risky trade-off at the heart of CrowdStrike’s outage
A flawed update from cybersecurity provider CrowdStrike was the cause behind Friday’s massive IT outage, which crashed airline, banking and health care systems worldwide. Providers like CrowdStrike need to push updates out fast in order to keep up with potential threats–sometimes before they can do adequate testing to make sure nothing breaks. “It’s a really difficult conundrum, you cannot keep up with the number,” one chief information security officer at a New York law firm tells Coins2Day’s Sharon Goldman. Coins2Day
Amazon tightens the screws on RTO
Amazon is starting to “speak directly” with employees who have yet to comply with the ecommerce company’s demand that workers come in “three or more days a week.” Management is reportedly starting to ask teams to set minimum in-office hours or days, with some being told that employees must spend at least two hours in the office for it to count as an in-person day. Coins2Day
Santorini suffers from too many tourists
The Greek island of Santorini can’t afford “one single bed more” for accommodation, its mayor complains, as tourist hotspots push back against having too many visitors. Santorini expects to have 3.4 million tourists this summer, even as the island’s government has asked for limits since 2012. Locals complain that the island’s economy now focuses too much on tourists, denying labor and resources for sectors like the local wine industry. Bloomberg
AROUND THE WATERCOOLER
Doctors revert to pen and paper after CrowdStrike’s outage hits hospitals: ‘Every single computer was down’ by Jessica Mathews
Hyundai’s new Singapore factory features a Michelin chef-run Korean restaurant by Lionel Lim
Business leaders have already begun scenario planning for a Trump win. 3 clear themes have emerged by Geoff Colvin
This Gen Z startup raised $41.5 million as the ‘anti-Facebook’ by Sasha Rogelberg
Book excerpt: How Elon Musk’s Tesla survived its early years—despite its first electric vehicle being glitchy by Kenneth K. Boyer
This edition of CEO Daily was curated by Nicholas Gordon.
