Tech billionaire Trump adviser Marc Andreesen says universities will 'pay the price' for DEI

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Washington Post

Today at 6:35 a.m. EDT


Influential tech investor and Trump adviser Marc Andreessen recently said universities will “pay the price” for promoting diversity and allegedly discriminating against supporters of President Donald Trump, according to messages he sent to a group chat with White House officials and technology leaders reviewed by The Washington Post.

The billionaire’s messages also cited Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Stanford University, a respected institution at the heart of Silicon Valley that has incubated tech companies such as Google. Andreessen and his wife have donated millions of dollars to the school.

“I view Stanford and MIT as mainly political lobbying operations fighting American innovation at this point,” Andreessen wrote in screenshots of messages sent May 3 and reviewed by The Post. The investor described a “counterattack” against universities in his messages and called for the National Science Foundation, a federal research funding agency, to receive “the bureaucratic death penalty.”

Andreessen co-founded one of Silicon Valley’s most prominent venture capital firms, Andreessen Horowitz, which embraced President Donald Trump’s candidacy last year. While Elon Musk was the most visible tech mogul in Trump’s orbit until he split with the president, Andreessen has quietly helped shape the administration’s hiring and policy decisions.

Read more: https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2025/07/12/marc-andreessen-private-chat-universities-diversity/

---

No paywall (gift)

So Miller = "immigration", Navarro = "tariffs", and this ass = "DEI".

From the OP article -


(Washington Post illustration; Obtained by The Post)


(Washington Post illustration; Obtained by The Post)

But we are supposed to talk about "Kitchen table issues".

[msongs]

1. not to worry MARC the hoarder, most universities are becoming spineless worms like Rubio nt

[ancianita]

4. Where do you get this idea from? Just curious.

[Shipwack]

29. Here, for starters...

https://www.democraticunderground.com/10143495009

CNN — Columbia University is on the verge of striking an agreement with the Trump administration following months of negotiation to restore federal funding to the school, according to two sources familiar with the deal.

[ancianita]

44. Well, as "for starters" no one uses just one university to base their claim about "most universities..." which

defies all rules of logic. One does not equal most. Meaning this: that you can't use Columbia as your sole example, since it's only one of almost 6,000 universities in the U.S.

[Shipwack]

47. I only gave one example...

… to show that it is happening. I have neither the time nor patience to give you a dozen more. If you want more, do some research instead of moving the goalposts.

Hence the phrase “for starters”. I charge $35/hr for research. If interested, dm me for my Venmo.

[ancianita]

48. You say one example is logical "for starters..."? You won't fact base your claim? Okay, then.

I was just curious. Now I know ... you expect someone else to disprove your own off-the-top fluffery and lack of logic.

[ancianita]

2. Billionaire or not, that's just his personal opinion.

As a donor of both Democrats and the cult, and consultant with the Saudis, Andreesen's another global opportunist who knows about as much of how universities are run as his tool, trump knows about how good government is run.

[BumRushDaShow]

7. But remember how 45 "operates" -

he follows the dictates of "whoever he talked to last".

There is someone in there who has been the architect of the obscenity that has been carried out - not just at businesses but to the (or certain) Universities and vindictively pushing it. This guy seems obsessed enough with the subject to probably be the one.

I do know that aside from the mess that Columbia found itself in with the OTT protests on their campus, Columbia was Barack Obama's alma mater, and that is factoring into the full-throated pummeling of the school.

[ancianita]

8. "This guy seems obsessed enough ... to probably be the one." I don't disagree, he probably is. But remember, too,

that Charles Koch has plowed the ground long before him in literally buying up schools of economics and boards of over 500 universities in the U.S. The corporate pummeling of American universities has been going on a loong time.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/12PueWQ-mfDuFfE9kHp8gYrUFPcjwZxsuzhBsu5XRJ5I/edit?pli=1&gid=0#gid=0

Higher Ed Institutions won't save themselves. They need long term foundation endowers (?) and supporters, not global tech oligarchs and oiligarchs.

Andreesen's life is temporary; the world's universities have withstood centuries of men like him. I trust them as repositories of humane thought far more than I worry about the likes of him.

[BumRushDaShow]

9. The Kochs (or at least the one brother left) actually sat out the 2020 election

but I don't think their obsession was with "DEI" but more with pushing "conservatism" into the schools and school boards. Their "Americans for Prosperity" funded efforts to basically do what Muskrat did - "limit government" - although I don't even think they thought what Muskrat did was carried out in any sane or intelligent way.

No, in this case, this guy is a flaming white supremacist and that wing of the GOP believes in "replacement theory" and other nonsense, and they are the ones pushing to "purge" the U.S. of "other" - essentially carrying out "ethnic cleansing" in favor of themselves.

[ancianita]

11. So it seems.

Yep, Andreesen's everything you say and probably worse. But his money and drive won't have the effect he says they will.

We have tiers of universities in the U.S., some independent institutions with their own wealth management systems, and some dependent on corporate input, thus pummeled. They're a big target for the billionaire class, but they're also big enough that he's likely to be stopped by faculty and alumni resistance at that level, and by media journalists who don't take kindly to their alma maters being attacked by his ilk. I take into account that he'll lose credibility among his global class by going down with Trump over the felon's racist immigration stance and general corruption.

[BumRushDaShow]

12. There are who knows how many colleges and universities

who have already capitulated "in advance" and they aren't "making the news". They are quickly erasing my and my ancestors' existence.

And I even saw this today - Harvard Grad Schools Rebrand Diversity Offices as University Wipes DEI Messaging

But I guess that is "okay" by "Americans".

[ancianita]

14. True.

And just as many who definitely are not making the news, either. There is this revisionist history attempt, true, and I'm sorry to hear you're experiencing it, but I think part of most independent universities' historical mission is to preserve the best of the American mind. Given that 62% of Americans have no university experience, I hear you about their passivity in the face of trump/heritage types.

[BumRushDaShow]

15. Oh I know they want the best in terms of preservation of history and truth

But as you are seeing with Harvard, "the bottom line" comes first and that is why 45 has weaponized the federal government against institutions - whether schools, media, manufacturers, or retailers, to force them to do ethnic purging or face a financial price.

And meanwhile you have the SCOTUS poised, using their "token Justice" to essentially torpedo what is left of the VRA - Sect. 2.

And after that, what is left of the Civil Rights Act will be next. They are intent on wiping out the Democratic Party "base" and as long as our party ignores this and insists that loons will only listen to "economics", then it will come to fruition.

[ancianita]

17. You're right of course, and your outrage is justified. The damage they're doing is sweeping.

In the next three years no one will stay neutral on this moving trainwreck that's roiled way beyond one political party.
I've no words for what I fear will happen.

[Keepthesoulalive]

19. We must teach our children

We have always had the oral tradition even during slavery and reconstruction. We know how to survive hard times and not let the oppressors destroy us. They have been allies of convenience, we are also used to being the last hired and the first fired. Our learned resilience will carry us through.

[BumRushDaShow]

20. Yes - we have "been here done that"

which is why we are still here. But it's a matter of getting others to finally SEE. Unfortunately what is happening now was carefully "baked into" the original Constitution, which is why the supremacists are trying to basically nullify the changes made to "perfect" that Constitution over the past 160+ years, and get back to that "original intent".

[mpcamb]

22. The worst aspect is the Washington Post printed this pro-trump puff piece.

Weekly they've published thinly vailed political ads for policies with stories which are chock full of lies passed off as facts.
Bezos has a weekly ass-smootching session that's supposed to pass for news.
WaPo was once a trusted news source for the nation with honorable writers, may of whom have quit, turning the paper into stenchy fishwrap.

[highplainsdem]

3. Andreessen is an idiot and an egomaniac. Some links:

This is creepy IMO. How venture capitalist Marc Andreessen wants his son to grow up with AI.
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218115458

Marc Andreessen just dropped a 'Techno-Optimist Manifesto' that sees a world of 50 billion people
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100218374480

The Edgelord AI That Seduced Marc Andreessen, Then Turned a Famed Shock Meme Into Cryptomillions
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100219830854

AI-investing venture capitalist Marc Andreessen thinks AI can replace almost all jobs - except his
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220284237

[sop]

5. The world is no longer exclusively a place for mediocre white men.

[Initech]

6. Go shove it up your ass and eat a gigantic bag of shit, Marc Andreessen!

Leave our fucking universities alone and stop trying to twist everything into your sick, perverted fascist view, OK? Also go shove your stupid billions up your ass!

[mdbl]

10. I was going to comment but yours was so much more eloquent than mine.

[Sessuch]

13. Poor Marc is still pissed that a Harvard drop out blew Marc's feeble internet browser out of the water.

Microsoft killed his browser when they build a browser into their applications platform. Oh My!

[wolfie001]

16. All that money and he looks like a thumb

No wonder he's so bitter. Look at how "gawd" made him. Fugly-ass POS



p.s.- he reminds my of the early SNL skits: 'The Coneheads'

[Cha]

32. Agree... he looks the part of

what he's doing. Malignant Blight on America.

[Yo_Mama_Been_Loggin]

18. Never heard of him

And I was in the tech business for 45 years.

On edit: Seems he's the one who came up with Mosaic. I used that for a short time. What a ponderous piece of shit.

[BumRushDaShow]

35. I remember back in the early '90s

trying Mosaic (at work) but we ended up using Netscape (before eventually moving to IE).

[dlk]

21. Ignorance and bigotry on steroids

Apparently Andreessen is unfamiliar with our country’s long history of discrimination and he is so very selfish, and small, he goes raving mad at attempts to right past wrongs, and share opportunities with others.

So however did this poor, abused creature manage to succeed against such “terrible” odds?

What a very small, bitter man. All of his wealth is meaningless when his heart is so thoroughly poisoned. With unhinged ravings like this post, I doubt he ever has a moment’s peace.

[Dulcinea]

23. Memo to Marc Andreessen:

GO FUCK YOURSELF. That is all.

[not fooled]

24. Uh, dipsh*t

Your precious GQPee has systematically underfunded and undercut public education.

Your precious MAGA movement promotes homeschooling, religious indoctrination, and anti-science beliefs.

No wonder the rest of the world educates its children better.

[pwb]

25. Isn't this all about Lurch

Trump not being accepted in any of these colleges?

[maxrandb]

26. "Yeah, well, that's just like your opinion man"

?feature=shared

[LudwigPastorius]

27. Fuck off, Zippy.

[NBachers]

28. Zounds like DEI for homeschooled Christofascist zombie clones.

[DavidDvorkin]

30. For some reason, I always assumed Adreessen was one of the good guys

I can't even say why. Obviously, I was very wrong about that.

[hunter]

31. I may have annoyed him once or twice when he was an undergraduate.

I'd already decided then computers were going to be my hobby and not my vocation.

Guys like him remind me of the many "opportunities" I slammed the door on in my youth, opportunities which might have cost me my soul had I embraced them.

I've got no regrets. If Andreesen has no regrets he's a sociopath. Most billionaires are sociopaths, of course. A lot of them are vile racists and misogynists too.

All these white guys are getting older now and wondering why their techno-utopian visions are not turning out the way they expected. Instead of looking in the mirror they are looking around and blaming women and everyone who isn't white, or those Democrats they once supported.

[eppur_se_muova]

33. They will also reap the benefits, which most know full well are greater than any contrived 'price'.

The big price, of course, is that they will hear the ravings of pissant spoiled-ass billionaires who don't "get it" and never will -- the pathology is theirs, not the "woke" citizens'.

[Karasu]

34. "MY people". Oy. To be a conservative in 2025 is to be fucking insane. Without exception.

[Figarosmom]

36. If he believes MAGA are so qualified let him hire them.

Even DEI hires/enrollees have to be qualified for the job or entry into a college.

The right doesn't seem to get that, uess they believe that there isn't a woman or Black/Brown person alive qualified.

[MaineBlueBear]

37. All that money and still a

Whiny ass titty baby because he wants to be an unabashed racist. Fuck this guy and fuck the Washington Post for giving him a platform.

[Kablooie]

38. This guy invented the first internet browser in 1994.

I used to use it back then and admired him.
I never knew he became a biased fat cat.

[dedl67]

39. White male resentment

For many white males, their place at the top of the hierarchy was God-given. By virtue of their birth, they were superior to all women and all people with brown or black skin. Over the last five to six decades, that God-given status at the top of the hierarchy has been challenged by the social changes that have allowed women and non-whites to demonstrate, when given the opportunity of a level playing field, that they are equal to white males in intellectual ability.

Suddenly white males are confronted by women and non-white people who are smart, articulate, and successful. They are confronted by brown and black immigrants who work hard and send their children to top universities. Those white males of Andreessen’s ilk cannot tolerate the fact that women and non-whites are their equals (or, in many cases, superiors). Their precious egos are damaged. Therefore, they hate. And they write stupid invectives like this, which blame universities, which are trying to correct long injustices.

[taxi]

40. Next on the agenda, authorized hairstyles ala DPRK (North Korea style)

?resize=1950,1271

https://newsfeed.time.com/2013/02/25/these-are-north-koreas-28-state-approved-hairstyles/

[BoRaGard]

41. How loathsome

[sindri]

42. He makes a good argument

FOR DEI! The fact that he stated the universities were not allowing people in Trump's voter base tells me that they are NOT a diverse group, but instead are an echo chamber feedback loop of fixed narratives who are unwilling to accept any evidence not in line with their like mindset. Universities are about learning, discovering and developing new and innovative ways of doing things which requires open-mindedness and collaboration. MAGA don't do well with reflecting, understanding or listening to others and working together with them to . They seem to just be good at lying, bullying, cheating and stealing. The only way people like that have been admitted into universities is by being white, male and privileged. We just need to keep reminding that DEI isn't about giving BIPOC special advantages, but making sure special advantages aren't given to people just because they are white/male/straight/rich/etc. If he really cared about discrimination, they would go after legacy hires and admissions.

[travelingthrulife]

43. Just another white supremacist.

[FakeNoose]

45. Hmmm ... according to Wikipedia Andreessen used to be a Democrat

Link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marc_Andreessen

Andreessen endorsed and voted for Bill Clinton, Al Gore, John Kerry, Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton. In 2012, Andreessen donated $100,000 to Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney. During the 2016 primary season, he endorsed Republican candidate Carly Fiorina, but after Fiorina dropped out of the race, Andreessen switched his endorsement to the Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, citing the Republican nominee Donald Trump's immigration stance.

But something happened in 2024, because Andreessen supported Chump in the last election.

In July 2024, Andreessen announced he would donate to Super PACs that support Donald Trump's 2024 presidential campaign. Andreessen is a mega-donor to the political superPAC and pro-cryptocurrency advocacy group Fairshake. Andreessen came out against president Joe Biden's re-election bid, saying he feared higher taxes on billionaires and stricter regulations on industries he invests in (cryptocurrency and AI). On Joe Rogan's podcast in November 2024, Andreessen claimed that some cryptocurrency users have been unfairly debanked.

[Brainfodder]

46. Calling him a jackass for saying this publically, that is all.