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Shaun Maguire

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Shaun Maguire is an American venture capitalist and political activist, currently a partner at Sequoia Capital.[1][2][3] Maguire was appointed as a Member of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency in 2025.[4]

Early life and education

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In an interview with the Caltech Heritage Project, Maguire reported that he earned a 1.8 GPA in high school and failed his Algebra 2 course, and that his admission to Stanford University depended on letters of recommendation.[5] Maguire received his PhD in physics from CalTech.[1]

Career

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Maguire co-founded[when?] cyber firm Expanse, which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2020 for over $1 billion.[3][6]

Political activism

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Maguire served as an advisor to President Donald Trump in his second term, assisting with intelligence community picks.[2][7] Maguire manages the investments of Sequoia Capital in Elon Musks companies, including SpaceX, The Boring Company, xAI, and X, and assisted Musk during his tenure at DOGE.[7][8] Maguire supported Trump during the 2024 election.[9][10]

Mamdani comments

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On July 4, 2025, Maguire posted on X that New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani “...comes from a culture that lies about everything. It's literally a virtue to lie if it advances his Islamist agenda. The West will learn this lesson the hard way."[11][12][13] Maguire's comments were widely criticized as racist and Islamophobic, including by Dilawar Syed, former deputy SBA administrator.[14][15][16] Saudi entrepreneur Hisham Al-Falih criticized Maguire's comments, describing them as "appalling".[17]

Maguire defended his tweet on July 7, 2025.[18]

Following the post, a petition signed by 900 tech leaders circulated calling for Sequoia Capital to condemn Maguire's comments, investigate, and apologize.[6]

On July 8, 2025, an open letter in support of Maguire circulated.[6][19]

References

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  1. ^ a b Schleifer, Theodore; Haberman, Maggie; Swan, Jonathan (2024-12-07). "The Silicon Valley Billionaires Steering Trump's Transition". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  2. ^ a b Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2024-10-15). "What's With All the Trumpy VCs?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  3. ^ a b "Shaun Maguire". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  4. ^ O'Kane, Charles Rollet, Rebecca Bellan, Dominic-Madori Davis, Julie Bort, Sean (2025-03-26). "19 founders and VCs working with Elon Musk's DOGE". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-07-06.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  5. ^ "Shaun Maguire (PhD '18), Quantum Researcher and Venture Capitalist". Heritage Project. 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  6. ^ a b c Au-Yeung, Angel. "The Sequoia Investor Whose Anti-Mamdani Posts Set Off a Silicon Valley Storm". WSJ. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  7. ^ a b Schleifer, Theodore; Mac, Ryan; Boyce, Lily; Grind, Kirsten (2024-12-24). "The Men and Women Swirling Around Elon Musk". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  8. ^ Tecotzky, Alice. "DOGE under Musk unites Trumpworld vets with tech industry giants". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  9. ^ Chernova, Yuliya (2025-01-21). "At Trump's Inauguration, Tech and Venture Cement Their Insider Status". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  10. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Mattu, Ravi; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Hirsch, Lauren; Livni, Ephrat (2024-05-31). "Why Megadonors Are Unfazed by Donald Trump's Guilty Verdict". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  11. ^ "https://x.com/shaunmmaguire/status/1941135110922969168?". {{cite web}}: External link in |title= (help)
  12. ^ Sorkin, Andrew Ross; Warner, Bernhard; Kessler, Sarah; Merced, Michael J. de la; Kaye, Danielle (2025-07-08). "A Prominent Investor Is Criticized Over Mamdani Comments". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  13. ^ Novet, Jordan (2025-07-07). "Tech founders call on Sequoia Capital to denounce VC Shaun Maguire's Mamdani comments". CNBC. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  14. ^ "Sequoia's Shaun Maguire slammed for racist jibe at Zohran Mamdani: 'Comes from a culture that lies'". July 6, 2025.
  15. ^ https://x.com/dilawar/status/1941565441601830944
  16. ^ "Shaun Maguire's racist remarks about Zohran Mamdani ignite social media outrage: 'Comes from a culture that lies'". Indiatimes. 2025-07-06. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  17. ^ https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-07-07/sequoia-partner-maguire-s-posts-on-mamdani-spark-founder-petition
  18. ^ Murray, Conor. "Sequoia VC Shaun Maguire Keeps Pushing Mamdani 'Islamist' Claims". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  19. ^ Li, Madeline Berg, Kelsey Vlamis, Katherine. "Read the open letter circulating in support of the Sequoia partner who called Zohran Mamdani an 'Islamist'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-09.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
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