Enough is enough. This is the message from some of the Gulf’s top entrepreneurs, who added their signatures to an open letter denouncing the “anti-Muslim rhetoric” of a partner at one of Silicon Valley’s most prestigious venture capital firms.
Leaders from ride-hailing giant Careem, fintechs Tabby and Tamara, and e-commerce companies Souq, noon, and Mumzworld implored Sequoia Capital to denounce remarks made by partner Shaun Maguire, who said New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani was advancing an “Islamist agenda” and came “from a culture that lies about everything.” The majority of Sequoia’s investments are in the US, but in recent years it has invested in at least two Middle East startups, backing Tabby in 2022.
Fadi Ghandour, founder of logistics giant Aramex and venture fund Wamda Capital, signed the letter to the $85 billion firm, and encouraged others to join. Maguire has “a documented pattern of anti-Muslim rhetoric over the past two years” and “caused significant harm to the global tech community,” the letter said. Maguire later apologized on X before appearing to recant, posting on Tuesday: “Your Hate and Ignorance only fuels me.”