By Arriana McLymore
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Employees at many of the biggest U.S. tech companies are overwhelmingly backing Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, donation data show, even as some of the most powerful tech billionaires have thrown their support behind Republican rival Donald Trump.
Employees at Alphabet (NASDAQ:), Amazon (NASDAQ:) and Microsoft (NASDAQ:) are donating millions of dollars to the Harris campaign, significantly more than employees who choose to send money to former President Trump’s camp, according to data collected data by political watchdog OpenSecrets. The data includes donations from company employees, owners, and immediate family members of employees and owners.
However, tech billionaires like Tesla (NASDAQ:) CEO Elon Musk and venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, co-founders Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, are rallying behind Trump, citing the former president’s positions on the economy, taxes and big business.
The Nov. 5 presidential election has torn apart Silicon Valley, once a bastion of Democratic and liberal support. Greylock venture capitalist Reid Hoffman and entrepreneur Mark Cuban are pledging support for Harris’ bid for the White House, hoping for more abortion rights for workers and pro-tech policies.
But in recent years, several other tech leaders have pushed back against Democratic President Joe Biden’s business policies, including a broad attack on mergers and acquisitions and curbs on data privacy.
Under campaign finance laws, corporations themselves cannot donate directly to federal campaigns, including presidential campaigns. Companies often donate to congressional and state-level campaigns through political action committees, which are funded by employee donations and limited in the amount candidates can receive.
“Many companies serve customers on both sides of the political aisle, and they don’t want to alienate customers by making contributions that support only one party or one candidate in a partisan race,” said Michael Beckel, research director at the nonprofit Campaign Finance Reform. Problem one. While companies are not allowed to send money directly to presidential candidates, their employees are not, and tech workers overwhelmingly give to Harris.
Employees of Alphabet and its subsidiaries, including Google, and their family members have donated $2.16 million to Harris’ campaign so far, nearly 40 times what Trump has received, according to OpenSecrets.
Amazon and Microsoft employees and family members donated $1 million and $1.1 million, respectively. Trump’s campaign raised $116,000 from Amazon employees and $88,000 from Microsoft employees, as well as their family members.
Employees at Amazon, also a top U.S. retailer and the country’s second-largest employer, outpace the donations of other workers in e-commerce and brick-and-mortar retail.
For example, Walmart (NYSE:) employees donated a total of $275,000 to both Harris and Trump, with both presidential candidates receiving nearly the same amount of funding. Trump’s campaign brings in $144,000 from Walmart employees, about $14,000 more than Harris’s.
Campaign donations come primarily from corporate employees who have more disposable income than the typical warehouse worker or cashier, says Sarah Bryner, director of research and strategy at OpenSecrets. Bryner said employees at Amazon and other tech companies often make more money than those at Walmart, giving them more leeway to contribute to political campaigns.
Amazon employees make more money on average than Walmart employees, who are often based in Bentonville, Arkansas. Amazon’s U.S. employees take home an average of $133,000 a year, while the average annual salary of Walmart’s employees is $85,000, according to data from labor market ZipRecruiter.
Employees and family members at Meta (NASDAQ:) and Apple (NASDAQ:) have not yet reached the $1 million mark in donations to Harris, but they continue the trend of surpassing contributions to Trump. Meta employees have donated $25,000 to Trump, compared to $835,000 to Harris, while Apple employees have donated $44,000 to Trump, compared to $861,000 to Harris.
Silicon Valley has traditionally been seen as more left-wing in the US. In August, more than 100 venture capitalists said in a letter that they would support Harris, who is seen as pro-innovation in business and technology.
