San Francisco – Roelof Botha arrived this month at the Allen & Co. annual conference in Sun Valley, Idaho, to meet and interact with technology and media mogles. However, a moving controversy at home accompanied him to this exclusive retreat.
Botha, a managing partner of Sequoia Capital, a renowned Silicon Valley venture firm firm, was repeatedly questioned at the event about a colleague, Shaun Maguire, according to two people familiar with the subject. Maguire – perhaps the most expressive partner of Sequoia – had posted on the social platform X on July 4, that Zohran Mamdani, the progressive democrat who competes for New York City Hall, came from a “culture that lies about everything” and was lying to promote “his Islamist agenda”.
Maguire’s post was immediately convicted on social networks as Islamophobic. More than 1,000 technology professionals signed an open letter asking him to be punished. Investors, founders and technologists sent messages to the members of the firm about Maguire’s behavior. Their critics continue to push the sequoia to deal with what they consider hate speech and other inventive, while their supporters defend Maguire’s right to freedom of expression.
In Sun Valley, Botha heard the discussions, but remained neutral, the sources said.
For half a century, Sequoia tried to maintain this neutrality, even when rival firms of Venture Capital, such as Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund, began to take on political positions. But as Maguire made increasingly inflamed comments, including saying that diversity, equity and inclusion “kill people”, Sequoia found themselves in a situation that its leaders never wanted: in the midst of cultural wars.
This is a delicate time for the renowned venture capital firm, which supported Apple, Nvidia and Google when they were startups. For decades, Sequoia kept its partners behind the scenes, while highlighted the founders of the startups in which it invested. However, these values have become harder to follow as the capital venture industry has grown and many investors have abandoned traditions.
Continues after advertising
Although Maguire is uncommon in Sequoia for his franchise in X, he is not an isolated case in the industry. Risk capitalists such as Marc Andreessen and Peter Thiel have been openly talked about their opinions, sometimes with the intention of influencing national policy.
Publicly, Sequoia did not comment on Maguire. Behind the scenes, a senior sequoia partner, Doug Leone, seemed to defend Maguire, according to email correspondences revised by The New York Times.
“Sequoia is trapped and only has bad options,” said Paul Biggar, CEO of the Tech For Palestine Defense Group and founder of the Circleci software development startup. “People are manifesting because everyone sees what they have supported, and this trend will only get worse for them.”
Continues after advertising
Sequoia preferred not to comment. In an interview with Fortune in March, Botha described the firm as having a “spirit of institutional neutrality”, allowing individuals to maintain their political differences.
In a nearly 30 -minute video posted on X last week, Maguire called Mamdani again a “Islamist” and “Wolf on Lamb Skin.” Maguire also tried to make a distinction, saying that “Islamists are not all Muslims” and apologized “to any Muslim who is not Islamist and any Indian who was offended by this tweet.”
Mamdani’s campaign did not respond to the request for comment.
Continues after advertising
Founded in 1972, Sequoia was known for years by its exceptional history in startup investments. The firm gained billions of dollars when young companies in which they bet grew up and became big business, opening capital or being acquired for huge sums.
In the 1990s, Sequoia was already consolidated as one of the main capital firms at Sand Hill Road in Menlo Park, California, with investments in companies such as Cisco, a telecommunications hardware supplier. It also invested in Paypal, YouTube, Instagram, WhatsApp and Zoom, among others. For startups, Sequoia’s approval seal meant they were important players.
Over time, the members of Sequoia tried to avoid the spotlight. But with the arrival of more investors in Silicon Valley in search of next Google or Airbnb, some risk capitalists in firms like Andreessen Horowitz and Founders Fund have started blogging and posting on social networks, seeking to be thought leaders. Discussing sensitive political themes has become more common.
Continues after advertising
Sequoia hired Maguire, 39, who helped found a cybersecurity company in 2019 on the recommendation of Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, a payments startup that is one of the largest investments in the firm. Maguire had been bothered by controversial issues before; He even said that he was not promoted in another capital firm for “being a white man.”
In Sequoia, Maguire approached Elon Musk. He helped ensure firm investment on Spacex, a musk rocket company, which valued a lot. Maguire also led Sequoia’s business with other musk companies, including tunnel company The Boring Company, X and Artificial Intelligence Startup.
Anyone who knows Maguire describes him as a warm and friendly person personally, and says his relative youth – Botha, for example, is 51 years old – makes him closer to young entrepreneurs.
Continues after advertising
But Maguire has also gained reputation – or perhaps notoriety – as a prolific user of X, where he has over 275,000 followers. In dozens of daily posts, comments on politics and progressive causes. After the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, Maguire, who defines himself as a “Jew and Zionist,” defended the Israeli government response and warned of what he saw as an increase in anti -Semitism.
This month, Maguire posted on Mamdani after Times published an article on how the candidate for the City Hall, a south-Ashatic Muslim born in Uganda, wrote that he was Asian and African-American in an inscription for Columbia University (he was not admitted). Mamdani had just overcome the primary Democrat for mayor of New York with a progressive platform, emphasizing cost of living and defending the rights of Palestinians.
In response to Maguire’s post, technologists and startup founders released an open letter asking Sequoia to begin independently investigating his behavior. The letter claimed to represent about 1,000 startups, with over 1,100 signatures, although not all names could be verified. At least one signatory company was funded by Sequoia.
“This was not a mistake,” said the letter about Maguire. “It was a deliberate and inflamed attack that promotes dangerous stereotypes against Muslims and fosters division.”
In an X post, Maguire referred to your “enemies” and said, “I’ll behave for now, but I’m ready to embarrass any of you if you climb.”
A letter in support of Maguire gathered more than 1,000 signatures, including Bill Ackman, a funding billionaire supporting Israel, as well as founders of sequoia -backed startups. The letter described Maguire as a “principled thinker” who “helped build careers, finance companies and raise voices through divisions.”
Others sent private messages to Sequoia employees asking them to support Maguire, according to two people familiar with the matter.
Sequoia members have acted with caution. On July 10, Pat Grady, a partner of the firm, published a statement in X expressing sympathy for both the Muslim community and Maguire. The post was republished by Alfred Lin, another partner.
“I don’t agree with everything my partners say,” wrote Grady. “The aggressive search for the truth and a healthy conflict of ideas are marks of Sequoia. These are key ingredients to make the partnership great.”
In emails with a founder worried this month, revised by Times, Leone wrote that Maguire’s posts did not condemn Muslims. Leone also reiterated a point that Maguire had already done publicly, distinguishing between “Islamists” and “Muslims.”
c.2025 The New York Times Company
