Why tech bros are turning to Trump

Donald Trump, whose time in office made him a pariah to many in the business world, has found new champions among tech leaders as his path back to the White House takes shape.Elon Musk, the world’s richest person, became the biggest name yet to throw his weight behind the former president this month, endorsing him and getting involved in fundraising efforts.The move capped weeks of mounting support from the tech world, as influential venture capitalists and tech leaders, including former Democratic donor Allison Huynh, investors Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz and the Winklevoss twins, players in the world of crypto, rallied publicly around Trump.Support for Trump is hardly universal. But it marks a sharp turn from just a few years ago, when companies rushed to distance themselves from Trump in the weeks after the 2021 US Capitol riot. Coming from Silicon Valley, where backing a ban on gay marriage – a Republican cause – once cost an executive his job, the change is especially striking.At a cryptocurrency event at the Republican National Convention in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Nicholas Longo, 27, of wealth management firm Fortuna Investors, said when he voted for Trump four years ago he felt there was stigma attached.”In 2020, it would have been inadvisable for me to express support for Donald Trump,” he said. Now, all that has changed.