Sequoia Partner Spreads Debunked Brown Shooting Theory, Tests New Leadership | TechCrunch

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire is once again drawing unwanted attention to the prominent venture capital firm after falsely accusing a Palestinian student of being behind the Dec. 13 mass shooting at Brown University and the subsequent murder of an MIT professor.

In now-deleted posts on In reality, authorities identified the shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was later found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility. Brown officials said they removed the student’s digital footprint as a protective measure against dangerous speculation.

Fast company republished two of Maguire’s deleted posts on Friday (he has previously left inflammatory content online and not deleted it comments he suggested that the MIT professor was targeted because he was Jewish). The incident follows months of controversial messages targeting Muslims and pro-Palestinian activists, including the declaration of newly elected New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani as an “Islamist” in July. That post sparked a swift online response, with nearly 1,200 founders and tech industry professionals signing an agreement open letter Urging Sequoia to take action. Later an open letter surfaced to support Maguire.

The latest episode raises questions about whether Sequoia’s new leadership — managing partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who took over last month — can or will curb Maguire’s social media activity. Chief operating officer Sumaiya Balbale left the company in August over Sequoia’s inaction on Maguire’s anti-Muslim comments, according to previous reporting by the Financial Times. Former managing partner Roelof Botha, who resigned in November, defended Maguire’s behavior during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt in October, calling Sequoia a supporter of its partners’ right to “freedom of expression.”

“Internally we celebrate diversity of opinion, and we need ‘prickly’ people within Sequoia,” Botha said, referring to Maguire. He said Maguire has a “specific profile” that appeals to certain founders. Maguire has led investments in numerous defense technology and AI startups, and reportedly has close ties to Elon Musk’s companies, managing Sequoia’s investments in Neuralink, SpaceX, The Boring Company, X and xAI.

However, Botha acknowledged the trade-off with Maguire’s candor. “Does it come with compromises? Yes, it does,” he said.

Lin and Grady have not publicly discussed Maguire’s behavior since taking over leadership.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for Maguire’s resignation, telling Fast Company that his accusations are “deeply irresponsible and incredibly dangerous.”

TechCrunch has reached out to Sequoia for comment.