A roll call of huge names from the business world have publicly declared they are on Team Harris.
In a published letter, 88 corporate leaders have endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris ahead of November 5th’s Election Day.
Harris already has a strong relationship with many tech leaders in Silicon Valley but the new supporters bridge a wide range of industries from media to sports.
“Strength, Security, and Reliability”
In the letter, which was first shared with CNBC, the signees write that electing Harris as President will be “the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy.”
They add that Harris will “continue to advance fair and predictable policies that support the rule of law, stability, and a sound business environment.”
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CNBC says the letter has been published to “convince the general public to vote for Harris” but “…is a well-timed political show of force” coming ahead of the ABC public debate set for tomorrow.
From Philanthropists to Top Executives
Technology executives feature heavily on the list with Aaron Levie of Cloud company, Box, Twilio co-founder Jeff Lawson, Jeremy Stoppelman of Yelp and Michael Lynton, chairman of Snap among the signees. Venture capitalist Ron Conway, entrepreneur Mark Cuban and former LinkedIn CEO Reid Hoffman are all big names from Silicon Valley who have publicly declared their support in the letter.
Harris has also won the backing of James Murdoch, former CEO of 21st Century Fox and an heir to the Murdoch family media empire, Barry Diller, former CEO of Paramount and Fox Inc., and Jeffrey Katzenberg, the founder and managing partner of Wndr as well as former chairman of Walt Disney Studios.
Philanthropists Lynn Forester de Rothschild and Laurene Powell Jobs have signed while Ted Leonsis, owner of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, WNBA’s Mystics and the NHL’s Washington Capitals, and billionaire businessman Magic Johnson represent the world of sport.
Steve Westly, managing director of the Westly Group has also signed, setting himself firmly in opposition to Elon Musk, owner of Tesla where he was formerly a board member. Musk is endorsing Team Trump, feverishly using his platform, X, to publish posts about Harris, including a deepfake video that seemed to contravene X’s own publishing rules. Musk is reported to have pledged $45m a month to the Trump campaign.
He joins the Winklevoss twins, former Democratic donor Allison Huynh, and investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz in supporting Trump.
Business Pledges Made by Both Candidates
Both candidates have been hard on the campaign trail and have both outlines their business approaches. Harris has proposed raising the top capital gains tax rate from 20% to 28% for people making more than $1 million a year. This is lower than the level that President Biden had proposed. She has also wooed small businesses with a proposal to increase the tax deduction that startups can claim for expenses to up to $50,000.
Trump has focused on corporate tax rates, which he says he will lower to 15% but for companies that make products in the US.
Team Harris is sure to be buoyed by this show of support ahead of the debate but detractors like Musk have taken the gloves off and continue to fight in what they are quite happy to push into an ugly battle.
