Many prominent business people and CEOs have come out in support of one or the other major party presidential candidates. Some use it for their own PR, others are used by news agencies for the recognition their names bring to headlines. Some, like Apple’s Tim Cook or Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban, may be doing a bit of both.
But, if anyone asked most folks to comment on why Reed Hastings is supporting Hillary Clinton, many could be forgiven for saying, “who?”
Hastings, of course, is the co-founder and current CEO of Netflix, the streaming service that is clearly winning that industry at the moment, churning out hit after hit after hit. When asked whether Donald Trump would make a good president, Hastings did not offer a non-answer or toss of a noncommittal soundbite. He dropped this juicy steak of a comment at the feet of those lucky reporters:
“It's so bad for America if he wins, it's secondary on the economy…”
Hastings’ answer surely didn’t surprise the veteran tech reporters who lobbed that softball across the plate for him to murder into the cheap seats. Hastings has been steadily critical of Trump for months, and he’s been a very public advocate of Hillary Clinton.
Last summer, when asked a similar question, Hastings said: “Trump would destroy much of what is great about America… Hillary Clinton is the strong leader we need, and it's important that Trump lose by a landslide to reject what he stands for.”
These comments make Hastings neither an outlier nor in the minority in Silicon Valley. While Trump claims to be very popular with big business, the tech sector is not among those riding his train. CEOs from Salesforce, Google, Zynga, as well as Napster’s founder and LinkedIn’s founder have all dug deep to donate to Clinton’s campaign.
Hastings clearly believes his comments will not hurt his company’s bottom line. Either that or he’s so committed to the cause that he’s willing to take his lumps if it comes to that, much like Apple or Starbucks, two companies that have made no secret of their political affiliation, especially in this cycle.
Elie Hirschfeld is a seasoned real estate developer in NYC.
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