Silicon Valley's Wealthy Tech Magnates Engage in a Contest to Determine Who Exhibits the Most Arrogant Behavior
In the bustling realm of Silicon Valley, identifying the most obnoxious individual is a challenging task due to the abundance of characters with questionable behaviors and ego-driven personalities. The tech industry and its funding source, venture capital, are notorious for housing numerous individuals with antisocial tendencies and undiagnosed psychological issues. Recently, there's been a wave of pointing fingers, with each community trying to pinpoint who the most arrogant character is.
This debate was ignited by an ongoing personal feud, which was kick-started, appropriately, through a tweet. The tweet came from David Sacks, a conservative tech tycoon and ardent supporter of former president Trump. On a Tuesday, he posted criticism against the Democratic Party for choosing Kamala Harris as their presidential candidate instead of Joe Biden. “This wasn’t a voluntary step down; it was a political maneuver, with Nancy Pelosi pulling the trigger,” Sacks stated, providing his skewed political analysis.
The ensuing tweet from Parker Conrad, a former colleague of Sacks, caused quite a stir. Conrad lost his job within Zenefits, which eventually went to Sacks, and had some choice words for the late-post.
“Let me tell you, orchestrated power moves are this man’s forte,” Conrad tweeted back.
Outside the tech industry, this repartee might be lost in translation. The backdrop is Zenefits, an HR and payroll firm, which experienced a setback in 2016 due to licensing violations and compliance issues. In the following months, Conrad stepped down from the company. Sacks, who was an investor and COO at Zenefits at the time, eventually took Conrad's position. According to Conrad, Sacks played a significant role in ruining his reputation before leaving the company, choosing to skew the media narrative and assign a majority of the blame on him. Conrad later admitted that around 70% of the licensing violations indeed happened on the team that reported directly to Sacks during his tenure.
Sacks' response to the tweet was as fiery as the original, with the following retort: “You were sanctioned by the SEC. No one else, but you. However, you've spent the past decade trying to shift blame onto others for your own bad choices.” Sacks ended the post with a clown face emoji.
The ethics of the situation sparked further controversy. An influential tech entrepreneur, Paul Graham, publicly slammed Sacks for his comments against Parker. “Do you really want the entire story of what you did to Parker to be public?” Graham tweeted. “Because it's the worst case I've ever heard of an investor mistreating a founder.”
In an earlier deleted tweet, Graham went on, stating, “I was talking with another investor recently about whether you're the most evil person in Silicon Valley. After a moment's thought, he agreed that he couldn't think of anyone worse.” Screenshots of this tweet have circulated widely on various platforms.
Other influential figures in the tech community joined the chorus, with Cloudflare CEO Matthew Prince, who dubbed himself a “rich jerk,” adding more fuel to the fire. “I know this story. It's really terrible,” Prince tweeted, referring to Zenefits. “I can't say if you're the most evil in SV, but I can confirm: we overlapped for a year in law school, and even then, you had a reputation for being an absolute asshole. And that was at UChicago Law, which is rich in assholes.”
George Fraser of data company Fivetran, echoed Graham's sentiments, stating, “Ten years ago, David Sacks was part of one of the ugliest founder coups ever, replacing Parker Conrad as CEO of Zenefits.”
Siri Srinivas, of Gradient Ventures, weighed in, quote-tweeting one of Graham's remarks about Sacks and adding, “This is turning into the Netflix roast of David Sacks.” She later joked, “I really really hate bullying and pile-ons – except when they're well-deserved.”
Ilhar Mahaniok of VC firm Geek Ventures, simply stated, “I'm glad that finally, David Sacks is getting the treatment he deserves.”
“Clearly, some of the anger is linked to my political views,” Sacks later admitted, implying that his support for Trump, which included substantial tax cuts, was causing personal attacks.
The back-and-forth between venture capitalists garnered attention, and Eric Bahn of Hustlefund tweeted, “The venture capital industry has a major reputation problem. All the bickering, finger-pointing, personal attacks within the industry are being noticed by entrepreneurs. There are good VCs with great values, but this behavior makes us all look bad.”
Gizmodo has highlighted that this is merely the most recent open and public dispute among top-tier tech executives, with individuals in C-level positions exhibiting a growing tendency for highly visible confrontations.
Gizmodo contacted Sacks to request his thoughts on why numerous individuals appear to dislike him, and we will modify this report if he offers his perspective.
In the future of tech and venture capital, the industry's reputation may need significant rehabilitation due to the public disputes and personal attacks among top-tier executives. The ongoing feud between David Sacks and Parker Conrad, both tech industry figures, has highlighted the need for ethical conduct and respectful communication in the tech industry's leadership.
