Donald J. Trump has just become the President-elect of the Unites States of America, and entrepreneurs in Silicon Valley are not thrilled. Many are now in panic mode, considering every single possibility related to a Trump presidency. Some are even advocating the secession of California from the rest of the Union. Based on the current state of the Dollar and the stock market, investors are not happy either.
Hillary Clinton got an overwhelming majority of votes in California, BBC reports, which indicated that the prospect of Trump becoming president was largely a ludicrous idea to the inhabitants of the state. Now, Californians are in a state of shock and none exhibit this reaction more than tech investors like Shervin Pishevar.
"I am announcing and funding a legitimate campaign for California to become its own nation,” Pishevar wrote.
This proposal was supported by other investors in the tech region as well, while others simply echoed the sentiment. In terms of actual practice, the plan is absolutely farfetched. Then again, Trump becoming president was once considered impossible, so who is to say that a New California won’t be a thing one day?
In any case, the fact remains that tech giants are worrying about their prospects under Trump. According to assistant professor Gregory Autry at USC’s Marshall School of Business, they are right to be worried. Speaking to Tech Crunch, Autry noted that while the manufacturing sector might thrive under Trump, the tech industry will fare less so.
“As tech is oftentimes defined, you’re talking about Silicon Valley,” Autry explains. “Trump is definitely a problem for that model. His economic policies are focused on punishing China for its trade abuses and returning manufacturing to the U.S.”
Another reason why a Trump presidency spells disaster for Silicon Valley is the fact that he has expressed no concrete policy with regards to advancing the technology sector, Forbes notes. Clinton did, which is why she was favored to win by California voters. Now, the tech bubble is threatening to burst in the face of such overwhelming uncertainty.