Nearly 600 Sign Letter Urging Sequoia Capital to Condemn Partner Shaun Maguire’s Remarks Against Muslim Mayoral Candidate
F.M.I.E Sources report that close to 600 individuals—comprising founders, executives, and members of the tech ecosystem—have signed an open letter addressed to leaders at Sequoia Capital. The letter demands that the prestigious venture capital firm publicly denounce what they call a “deliberate, inflammatory attack” made by one of its partners, Shaun Maguire, against Zohran Mamdani, a Muslim Democratic mayoral candidate in New York City.
Over the weekend, Maguire—an outspoken supporter of former President Donald Trump—posted on X (formerly Twitter) claiming that Mamdani “comes from a culture that lies about everything” and is pushing “his Islamist agenda.” Mamdani, who recently won the Democratic primary, is a self-described democratic socialist.
The post rapidly gained attention, accumulating over 5.3 million views by Monday afternoon. In addition to the original post, Maguire released a video further elaborating on his stance.
In response, the signatories of the letter are calling on Sequoia to:
- Publicly condemn the remarks,
- Apologize to Mamdani and to Muslim founders,
- Launch an independent investigation into Maguire’s conduct over the past two years, and
- Adopt a zero-tolerance policy against hate speech and religious bigotry.
The letter sets a deadline of July 14 for Sequoia to issue a public response, stating:
“If no action is taken, we will proceed with broader public disclosure, media outreach, and mobilizing our networks to ensure accountability.”
So far, Sequoia has declined to comment. Maguire, however, responded via a post on Wednesday:
“You can try everything you want to silence me, but it will just embolden me.”
The list of signatories includes:
- Mudassir Sheikha, CEO of Careem
- Amr Awadallah, CEO of AI startup Vectara
- Abubakar Abid, machine learning expert at Hugging Face (a Sequoia-backed company)
- Ahmed Sabbah, CEO of Telda, a fintech startup backed by Sequoia since 2021
Several alumni from Y Combinator also signed the letter in solidarity.
Sequoia’s political history has been complex. Its former global managing partner, Doug Leone, a major Republican donor, openly supported Trump in the 2024 election. After Trump’s victory, Leone declared on X:
“To all Trump voters: you no longer have to hide in the shadows… you’re the majority!!”
Meanwhile, his predecessor, Mike Moritz, is a prominent Democratic donor who has sharply criticized Trump and his supporters within the tech industry. In an August editorial, Moritz wrote that tech leaders supporting Trump were “making a big mistake,” and questioned their tolerance of Trump’s criminal conviction, calling it more than a mere “book-keeping error.”
Neither Leone nor Moritz have issued public statements in response to the controversy.
Roelof Botha, Sequoia’s current lead partner, has maintained a more neutral stance, stating in a public forum that Sequoia “does not take a political point of view” and that the firm respects partners’ individual freedom to express personal opinions.
Maguire, however, has continued to be forthright about his political views. In 2023, he announced a $300,000 donation to Donald Trump’s campaign via X.
Zohran Mamdani, having recently defeated former New York Governor Andrew Cuomo in the Democratic primary, has faced criticism from certain circles within the business and tech communities.
— F.M.I.E Sources