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Sequoia Capital is a reaction after partner Sean Maguire called Zhodzni Mamdani “Islamist”.
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Founders, technology workers and business leaders require Sequoia to take action in an open letter.
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Maguire said his criticism of Mamdani was political, not religious or racial.
Sequoia Capital, one of the largest and oldest global VC companies, is facing pressure on the partner’s online remarks.
Meanwhile, the partner at the center of the dispute seems to double against the background of the reverse reaction.
Signed themselves as founders, investors and technology workers have signed an open letter calling for Stopiat Capital to take disciplinary action against his partner Sean Maguire after he called the Nominated Democratic Democracy of New York’s X.
“Mamdani comes from a culture that hides everything,” Maguire published on July 4th. He included a screenshot citing the New York Times reporting on how Mamdani noted his identity in the college application.
“It is literally a virtue to lie if it progresses in his Islamist program,” Maguire wrote in a publication.
Maguire’s post was welcomed with an X -X reaction, and the open letter appeared over the weekend. He requires a public apology from Sequoia, an official investigation into Maguire’s behavior, a zero tolerance policy towards hate speech and the creation of a hot line to report discrimination behavior. The letter gives Sequoia Capital until July 14 to answer.
“As the founders that build the future of technology, we cannot accept leadership from a company whose partners are involved in a hate speech and spread fanaticism,” the letter said. “Maguire’s behavior not only belittles Sequoia’s reputation, but also undermines your ability to serve a global, diverse founder ecosystem.”
Maguire said his criticism was political, not religious or racial, adding that “Islamis” is a political ideology and not the same as a Muslim.
The letter has hundreds of signatures, although at least a few of them seemed trolls using make -up or fake names. Some technological workers who identify themselves as working for prominent companies such as Microsoft, Turo, Google and Apple also seem to have signed the petition.
The list includes some business leaders who have previously collected capital from Sequoia -related funds. This includes Hosam Arab, CEO of Dubai -based Fintech Tabby; Hisham al-Falich, CEO of Lean Technologies; and Ahmed Sabi, co -founder of the Egyptian Payment Company. They did not respond to requests for a BI comment, but confirmed to Bloomberg that they had signed the letter.
“You are downplaying me”
Maguire dug against the backdrop of criticism, turning to the dispute in X.
“For haters and loser, you can’t imagine how much love and support I have received in the last 48 hours,” he wrote in X early Tuesday morning. “We canceled the canceled culture.”
Maguire said the signature of the letter were either “Marxists”, “Pro-Palestin”, or “left-handed”.
“All these groups want to cancel me because I am a strong and effective voice,” he wrote on Tuesday morning.
Sequoia Capital declined to comment when it was reached by Business Insider on Monday. When he had previously reached BI, Maguire also declined to comment, but noted several subsequent publications that he made in response to the reaction, including a 28-minute video, which he posted early on Sunday morning, defending calling Mamdani Islamist. He also criticized Mamdani’s father, a professor at the University of Colombia Mahmoud Mamdani, accusing him of “radical left -wing Islamism”.
“Every Muslim who is not an Islamist, and to every Indian who is offended in this tweet, very, very sorry,” he said in the video.
The Mamdani team did not respond to a request for comment.
The candidate had previously been torn when he spoke with CBS News about the comments he received, being the first Muslim to run for mayor of New York.
“I get messages that say,” The only good Muslim is a dead Muslim, “he said. “I get threats to my life, for the people I love.”
Mamdani, an outspoken critic of the Israeli government, has been accused of anti-Jewish sentiment by some of the blames he denied. He declined to condemn the phrase “globalizing the Intifada” in interviews. Asked about this recently on NBC News’ Meet the Press, he said, “This is not the language I use.”
This week, Mamdani was firing over a 2024 publication, in which he requested a 2015 music video from a Canadian comedy band, which parodies Hanuka. In response to the video, Maguire wrote to X that “really doesn’t bother me” and “I think people are offended too easily these days.”
“But I think Mamdani is a master in hiding his true self and people underestimate him,” Maguire added.
The platform, focused on Mamdani’s accessibility, does not develop religious ideals. He strives to expand the protection of the LGBTQ+ Community, raise the minimum wage and apply free care for children, among other initiatives.
Previously, Maguire was vowel to politics and sparked online disputes. In 2024, he wrote in a long post of X, saying he had donated $ 300,000 to be elected Trump as president shortly after Trump was convicted of counterfeiting business records, although at the time his political donations were personal and “do not reflect the views on the sequoia.”
He also said at the end of last year that he donated another $ 500,000 to American PAC, founded by Tesla Elon Musk CEO. In January, he called the policies for diversity, justice and the inclusion “structural racism” in another post of X.
Read the original Business Insider article