Stanford University forced my wife out without ..., said Silicon Valley's most-prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen in a group chat with US government officials

Prominent venture capitalists are making headlines for their sharp criticisms of established institutions and, in one case, for incendiary comments regarding a political candidate, underscoring a growing ideological divide within the tech industry.

Prominent venture capitalist Marc Andreessen , co-founder of Andreessen Horowitz (a16z), has reportedly launched a scathing attack on leading universities, including Stanford and MIT , and the National Science Foundation. According to screenshots viewed by the Washington Post, Andreessen, in a private group chat with AI scientists and officials of the Donald Trump administration, characterized MIT and Stanford as "mainly political operations fighting American innovation." He reportedly further said that Stanford "forced my wife out [as chair of its Center on Philanthropy and Civil society] without a second thought, a decision that will cost them something like $5 billion in future donations."

Stanford and MIT have "declared war on 70% of the country"
In a separate message, Andreessen reportedly declared that universities "declared war on 70% of the country and now they’re going to pay the price," specifically targeting "DEI and immigration" as "two forms of discrimination" that are "politically lethal." These remarks align with Andreessen's previously stated support for Donald Trump's presidential campaign, alongside a16z co-founder Ben Horowitz. Allies of Andreessen have since taken roles within the Trump administration. TechCrunch has reached out to a16z for comment.

Meanwhile, venture giant Sequoia Capital is grappling with the fallout from controversial comments made by partner Shaun Maguire concerning Zohran Mamdani , the Democratic nominee for New York City mayor. In a July 4th tweet on Twitter, which has garnered over 5 million views, Maguire labeled Mamdani an "Islamist" who "comes from a culture that lies about everything."

In his tweets, Maguire stated: "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." He further elaborated, "People have lost the plot Islamist != to Muslim Hezbollah, Hamas, Al-Qaeda, ISIS, The Taliban, The Ayatollahs in Iran, etc are Islamists Mamdani — a man who started an SJP chapter and defended Anwar al-Alawki — is an Islamist He’s doing his best to hide this but it’s clear."

Sequoia Capital has maintained a "hands-off approach" to the controversy, a strategy now being tested as the company finds itself in the eye of a public storm. The incidents once again shows increasing political polarization within the tech sector and raise questions about the role and responsibilities of influential figures in shaping public discourse.