Reid Hoffman says he's not planning on leaving US but puts chance of Trump retaliation at over 50%
Reid Hoffman said there was a "greater than 50% chance" he'd face retaliation for backing Kamala Harris.
The LinkedIn cofounder made the remarks on an episode of the "Diary of a CEO" podcast.
Hoffman was one of the vice president's most prominent Silicon Valley business supporters.
Reid Hoffman, the billionaire LinkedIn cofounder and outspoken Democrat, has said it's likely he'll face retaliation from President-elect Donald Trump for supporting Vice President Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
"I think that there's a greater than 50% chance that there will be repercussions from a misdirection and corruption of the institutions of state to respond to my having tried to help Harris get elected," Hoffman said on an episode of the "Diary of a CEO" podcast that aired on Monday.
Hoffman said he hoped any retaliation from Trump would be fairly tame, naming possibilities such as Internal Revenue Service audits or phone calls from the incoming president trying to hurt his business prospects.
"It could get much worse, but I don't really want to speculate on it because I don't want to give anybody any ideas," he said.
He added that any repercussions would be "undemocratic and un-American."
Regardless, Hoffman said he had no plans to leave the United States.
Nearly 90 top business executives — including Hoffman — signed a letter endorsing Harris' candidacy ahead of the general election, touting her plan to expand tax deductions for small businesses. The letter said Harris' White House bid was "the best way to support the continued strength, security, and reliability of our democracy and economy."
Hoffman was also part of a cohort of business leaders who put together an initiative to get right-leaning swing voters on board with Harris' candidacy by stressing her pro-business stances.
On the podcast, Hoffman said he'd spoken with fellow billionaires during the campaign who applauded his political actions but declined to partake themselves for fear of getting "penalized" if Trump won.
"Part of the reason why I think less people were public about it this cycle was because President Trump was threatening personal and political retaliation, and so you had to have a certain degree of courage to stand up — and courage in the public area," he said.
Since winning a second term, Trump has put several Silicon Valley business leaders in prominent roles, naming Elon Musk as cohead of the Department of Government Efficiency and David Sacks as the AI and crypto czar.
Despite his dislike for Trump and many of his policies, Hoffman said some of the president-elect's deregulation efforts could broadly benefit entrepreneurs.
"I think they're going to reduce regulation across the board for all entrepreneurs, so I think that's helpful for entrepreneurship," he said.
Representatives for Hoffman and Trump didn't immediately respond to requests for comment from Business Insider.
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