Business leaders react to Donald Trump winning the election

On By Littum

  • Business leaders have reacted to Donald Trump’s presidential election victory.
  • Silicon Valley was politically divided leading up to the election.
  • Here’s what some of the most influential business people have to say about the election results.

Top business leaders, investors and philanthropists have reacted to Donald Trump’s victory in the presidential election.

Fox News called the race early Wednesday morning. Just under four hours later, projections from CNN and other news organizations put Trump above the 270 Electoral College votes needed to win the presidency.

Throughout the campaign, Silicon Valley has been divided on which candidate to support.

Although Silicon Valley has historically leaned left, some of tech’s biggest names, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist David Sacks, tilted right this election season.

still, 875 venture capitalists pledged to vote and donate to Harris through an effort called VCsForKamala. A Business Insider analysis of publicly available FEC data revealed that VCs generally favored Democrats.

Some CEOs and executives have said Trump will better protect their business interests. Trump is expected to lower corporate taxes, extend tax cuts from his first term – the largest of which centered on corporations and wealthy Americans – ease some regulations and increase tariffs.

Labor experts believe Trump can reverse policies makes it easier to become a member of trade unions and can loosen safety regulations in the workplace.

Others, however, are nervous that Trump’s economic plans could be inflationary. Prices are up more than 20% over President Joe Biden’s first 45 months, which the administration has attributed to the pandemic and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Economists at think tanks across the political spectrum have written that mass deportations and tariffs — which can be between 10% and 20% on most foreign goods — could increase inflation or hurt GDP.

Here’s what some of the richest and most influential business people have to say about the election results.