Tech falls into the political background
San Francisco will vote for a new mayor tomorrow. The tech industry in nowhere to be found.
Flashback to 2011: Tech leaders threw their weight behind Ed Lee. Some even appeared in an MC Hammer music video spoof supporting Lee. He won.
Flash forward to 2018: Typically outspoken tech leaders all seem to be riding the fence in this mayoral election—with their words and their wallets.
Why? Tech executives are afraid to bet on the wrong horse. “I care so deeply, I cannot support one of the candidates,” Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, said Friday. “I don’t want to disenfranchise my ability to work with whoever is elected.” That’s all well and good in a city whose officials know where their bread is buttered. But with talk of congressional tech regulation on the horizon, this neutral stance isn’t likely to translate to the national stage.
Flashback to 2011: Tech leaders threw their weight behind Ed Lee. Some even appeared in an MC Hammer music video spoof supporting Lee. He won.
Flash forward to 2018: Typically outspoken tech leaders all seem to be riding the fence in this mayoral election—with their words and their wallets.
Why? Tech executives are afraid to bet on the wrong horse. “I care so deeply, I cannot support one of the candidates,” Marc Benioff, chief executive of Salesforce, said Friday. “I don’t want to disenfranchise my ability to work with whoever is elected.” That’s all well and good in a city whose officials know where their bread is buttered. But with talk of congressional tech regulation on the horizon, this neutral stance isn’t likely to translate to the national stage.
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