Shaun Maguire

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Shaun Maguire (born 1985) [1] is an American venture capitalist and right-wing political activist, currently a partner at Sequoia Capital. [2] [3] [4] Maguire was appointed as a member of the U.S. Department of Government Efficiency in 2025. [5]

Contents

Early life and education

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. [1] Maguire received his PhD in physics from Caltech. [2] Maguire has identified as Jewish, with ancestral ties to early Jewish settlers in California. [6]

Career

In 2010, Maguire cofounded Escape Dynamics. [7]

In 2011, he was recruited by DARPA's director Regina Dugan. In the role, he was deployed as a civilian contractor in Afghanistan. [8]

In 2012, Maguire co-founded cyber firm Expanse (previously called Qadium), which was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2020 for over $1 billion. [4] [9] [7] [10]

Maguire joined Google Ventures in 2016, where he worked for three years, before leaving for Sequoia Capital in 2019. [11]

Political activism

Maguire served as an advisor to President Donald Trump in his second term, assisting with intelligence community picks. [3] [12] Maguire manages the investments of Sequoia Capital in Elon Musk's companies, including SpaceX, The Boring Company, xAI, and X, and assisted Musk during his tenure at DOGE. [12] [13] Maguire supported Trump during the 2024 election. [14] [15]

Mamdani comments

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." [16] [17] [18] Maguire's comments were widely criticized as racist and Islamophobic, including by Dilawar Syed, former deputy administrator of the United States Small Business Administration. [19] [20] [21] Saudi entrepreneur Hisham Al-Falih criticized Maguire's comments, describing them as "appalling". [22]

Maguire defended his tweet on July 7, 2025. [23]

Following the post, a petition signed by 900 tech leaders circulated calling for Sequoia Capital to condemn Maguire's comments, investigate, and apologize. [9] On July 8, 2025, an open letter in support of Maguire circulated. [9] [24]

In the aftermath of the controversy, Sequoia’s COO Sumaiya Balbale, a practicing Muslim, resigned in August 2025. According to the Financial Times, Maguire’s remarks not only strained the firm’s relations with its Middle Eastern investors but were also described by Balbale as "Islamophobic". [25] [26] [27]

References

  1. 1 2 "Shaun Maguire (PhD '18), Quantum Researcher and Venture Capitalist". Heritage Project. 2023-01-04. Retrieved 2025-07-08.
  2. 1 2 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.
  3. 1 2 Tiffany, Kaitlyn (2024-10-15). "What's With All the Trumpy VCs?". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  4. 1 2 "Shaun Maguire". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  5. ↑ 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)
  6. ↑ "Shaun Maguire on Jewish heritage". ABC news. 2025-09-17. Retrieved 2025-09-17.
  7. 1 2 "Shaun Maguire: Positions, Relations and Network - MarketScreener". www.marketscreener.com. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  8. ↑ Silverman, Jacob (2025-07-22). "The metamorphosis of Shaun Maguire". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  9. 1 2 3 Au-Yeung, Angel. "The Sequoia Investor Whose Anti-Mamdani Posts Set Off a Silicon Valley Storm". WSJ. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  10. ↑ "Shaun Maguire". Heritage Project. Retrieved 2025-08-12.
  11. ↑ Loizos, Connie (2025-07-12). "Sequoia bets on silence". TechCrunch. Retrieved 2025-10-27.
  12. 1 2 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.
  13. ↑ Tecotzky, Alice. "DOGE under Musk unites Trumpworld vets with tech industry giants". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-06.
  14. ↑ 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.
  15. ↑ 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.
  16. ↑ Maguire, Shaun [@shaunmmaguire] (2025-07-04). "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" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  17. ↑ 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.
  18. ↑ Novet, Jordan (2025-07-07). "Tech founders call on Sequoia Capital to denounce VC Shaun Maguire's Mamdani comments". CNBC. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  19. ↑ "Sequoia's Shaun Maguire slammed for racist jibe at Zohran Mamdani: 'Comes from a culture that lies'". July 6, 2025.
  20. ↑ Syed, Dilawar [@dilawar] (2025-07-06). "Silicon Valley was built by entrepreneurs of all backgrounds. @sequoia owes its success to them, including my early team @FreshworksInc . Disagree with a candidate's policies, fine. But this attack is Islamophobic. Tech leaders must speak out—we can't normalize bigotry" (Tweet) – via Twitter.
  21. ↑ "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.
  22. ↑ "Sequoia Partner Maguire's Posts on Mamdani Spark Founder Petition" . Retrieved Sep 18, 2025.
  23. ↑ Murray, Conor. "Sequoia VC Shaun Maguire Keeps Pushing Mamdani 'Islamist' Claims". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  24. ↑ Berg, Madeline; Vlamis, Kelsey; Li, Katherine (2025-07-09). "Read the open letter circulating in support of the Sequoia partner who called Zohran Mamdani an 'Islamist'". Business Insider. Retrieved 2025-07-09.
  25. ↑ Morris, Stephen; Hammond, George; Murgia, Madhumita (21 October 2025). "Sequoia COO quit over Shaun Maguire's comments about Islamism". Financial Times.
  26. ↑ Holloman, Christer. "Sequoia Capital COO Quits After Partner's Tweet About Zohran Mamdani". Forbes. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
  27. ↑ "Sequoia Capital faces cash flow concerns as COO resigns amid free speech row - CNBC TV18". CNBCTV18. 2025-10-22. Retrieved 2025-10-23.
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