U.S. tech and crypto leaders face midterm election risks

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Tech and crypto midterm risks

Highlights

Elon Musk, Nvidia's Jensen Huang, OpenAI's Sam Altman, and Anthropic's Dario Amodei face heightened political risks if Democrats regain Senate and House control.
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong's withdrawal of support for the Clarity Act and push to revise crypto regulation have left key legislation stalled in the Senate.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg could owe billions if California passes a proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires, despite recently securing a share structure to maintain control.

Political exposure rises across tech and crypto

As first reported by Axios, executives tied to Republican allies or politically sensitive policy fights could face a harsher environment if Democrats regain control of the Senate and House.

Among the most exposed is Elon Musk, whose support for Republican candidates could invite backlash if the party performs poorly. Nvidia chief executive Jensen Huang also faces risk as he works to influence U.S. artificial intelligence policy, including efforts to preserve the company's ability to sell chips to China.

OpenAI chief executive Sam Altman and Anthropic chief executive Dario Amodei are confronting similar concerns. If a new Congress takes a more adversarial stance toward AI and data centers, that could slow their companies' growth paths.

Coinbase chief executive Brian Armstrong is also on the list after withdrawing support in January for the Clarity Act and seeking changes to the crypto regulatory bill, which then stalls in the Senate.

Regulatory and financial stakes broaden

Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg is facing a separate financial risk in California, where a proposed 5% wealth tax on billionaires could leave him owing billions if voters approve it.

The article says Zuckerberg recently agreed not to move to avoid the tax, but only after Meta's board allowed him to sell a new class of nonvoting shares without diluting his control of the company.

Even with Democrats favored in the midterms, Trump remains in office and still provides some protection for allied executives through executive authority. Many of his most market-disruptive policies have been pursued without congressional approval, meaning a Democratic-controlled Congress may have limited ability to restrain him directly.

Our earlier article on the US AI data-center buildout explained that the boom is running into mounting obstacles, from higher financing costs and construction delays to tight power availability and local pushback. We noted that only a minority of planned projects look credible, raising doubts about how quickly computing capacity can expand and whether developers can deliver on timelines without eroding investor confidence.

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