https://www.techdirt.com/2025/10/23/sequoias-choice/
"Sequoia Capital just showed us exactly what “institutional neutrality”
means—when billions are at stake.
Sumaiya Balbale—the firm’s chief operating officer, a Shake Shack board member,
someone “well regarded internally and by the start-ups she worked with as an
experienced operating executive”—resigned in August after complaining about
partner Shaun Maguire’s Islamophobic posts. Senior partners declined to
discipline him, citing free speech. Her position became untenable. She left.
Maguire stays. Because his bet on SpaceX netted Sequoia roughly $4 billion on
paper—earning him “a lot of rope” at the firm.
Let’s be precise about what happened. Maguire wrote on X that New York 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.”
This wasn’t his first offense. He’d endorsed Germany’s far-right AfD
party—prompting London-based partner Luciana Lixandru to publicly distance
herself, writing she felt “compelled” to share that “extremism on either side”
is dangerous. He’d endorsed Tommy Robinson, a convicted criminal and UK
anti-immigration activist. He’d accumulated enough controversial statements
that more than 1,000 founders and tech employees signed an open letter
demanding discipline.
Balbale—a practicing Muslim who has spoken publicly about how her gender,
ethnicity, and faith shaped her career—complained to senior partners. They told
her Maguire was exercising free speech. She resigned. Balbale walked out not
because she couldn’t handle internal bias, but because the firm chose not to
act. That tells you everything.
The asymmetry reveals the calculation.
When your COO complains that a partner’s Islamophobia creates a hostile
environment, the firm’s version of “institutional neutrality” means she leaves.
When that partner’s posts cause private complaints from portfolio company
executives and institutional investors, when Middle Eastern sovereign wealth
funds say “he is not welcome here,” when a financier calls his behavior “a
humiliation”—institutional neutrality means he stays.
Because SpaceX returns are good.
This isn’t neutrality. This is a choice about whose value to the firm matters
more. And Sequoia decided: $4 billion in paper gains from betting on Elon Musk
outweigh retaining your chief operating officer, maintaining relationships with
Middle Eastern capital, and avoiding the reputational damage of 1,000+ founders
demanding accountability."
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
