Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya has launched a sharp public attack on Silicon Valley Congressman Rohit Khanna, accusing him of pushing anti-entrepreneurial policies and prioritizing political ambition over innovation.
In a strongly worded post on X, Palihapitiya described Khanna, who represents California’s 17th congressional district, as “the most un-entrepreneurial, creative or innovative person possible” among local Democratic leaders in Silicon Valley.
At the center of Palihapitiya’s criticism is Khanna’s support for what he referred to as California’s proposed “Property Seizure tax,” which the congressman has characterized as a “Billionaire Tax.” Palihapitiya argued that the policy has already driven significant wealth out of the state.
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“It’s already led to half of California’s Billionaire wealth to flee the state which will leave the middle class to pay for the lost revenues,” he wrote.
Palihapitiya also took aim at Khanna’s collaboration with Bernie Sanders on a proposal for a national 5 percent wealth tax. He criticized the idea as fiscally irresponsible, saying Khanna “then teamed up with Bernie Sanders to propose an additional national 5% wealth tax to spend on God knows what.”
The investor further questioned Khanna’s stance on economic inequality, pointing to the congressman’s stock trading activity. “Despite all the virtue signaling on inequality, he is also one of the most prolific traders in Congress where just last year he traded $55.7m of stock,” Palihapitiya wrote, adding that Khanna “beat the market by 13%” while benefiting from information accessible through his role in Congress.
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Palihapitiya accused Khanna of shifting positions to serve political goals. “Ro’s ambition is what matters most to him and he will flop from dumb idea to dumb idea if he thinks it will serve his broader political ambitions,” he said, claiming that the congressman is currently positioning himself as a “quasi socialist to win favor with the extreme left of his Party.”
Concluding his remarks, Palihapitiya said Khanna “doesn’t deserve to represent Silicon Valley” and expressed hope that he would “lose badly” in his re-election bid.
Khanna has not publicly responded to the remarks at the time of writing.
The exchange highlights growing tensions between segments of Silicon Valley’s investor class and progressive Democrats over taxation, wealth redistribution, and the future direction of economic policy in California and beyond.