Figures including Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and David Sacks delivered their verdicts on Joe Biden's decision not to seek a second term in the White House.
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In yet another shocking turn in this year's presidential race, Joe Biden dropped out on Sunday and endorsed Vice President Kamala Harris as the Democratic nominee.
Recently, a number of prominent business leaders and Silicon Valley investors — among them Elon Musk, Bill Ackman, and Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz — have publicly come out in support of Donald Trump.
Musk and Ackman announced their backing after the former President was shot in an assassination attempt, while the A16z founders Andreessen and Horowitz pointed to Trump's policies on cryptocurrency and taxes in a lengthy podcast.
Now that the race has been upended at the top of the ticket, here's how business leaders are reacting.
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Elon Musk posted on X shortly after Biden announced his withdrawal: "I believe in an America that maximizes individual freedom and merit. That used to be the Democratic Party, but now the pendulum has swung to the Republican Party."
"My smartest friends, including those living in the San Francisco Bay Area who have been lifelong Dems, are excited about Trump/Vance," he added.
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Entrepreneur Mark Cuban was one of the first business figures to react to Biden's announcement, posting on X: "Father time is undefeated."
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Entrepreneur David Sacks, founder of venture capital fund Craft Ventures, took to X shortly after Biden's announcement: "Biden says he will address the nation later this week," he posted. "Why wouldn't he do that now? This was rushed. Pelosi wanted him out now."
Sacks further posted on X: "First they told us there was nothing wrong with Biden. Then they threatened to destroy him if he didn't leave the race. Now they're calling him a 'hero.' How can you not be sickened by these people?"
In a third post, Sacks said that Democratic Party leaders "believe in selections, not elections."
Sacks, who previously supported Democrat Hillary Clinton, helped organize a $12 million fundraiser for Trump in June and donated $1 million to vice presidential nominee JD Vance's Ohio Senate campaign.
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Brad Smith, president and vice chair of Microsoft, posted on X that Biden "devoted his lifetime to public service and today's announcement is another example of that commitment.
"I want to thank him for everything he has accomplished and for his ongoing service between now and inauguration day. Microsoft looks forward to working with his Administration for the remaining months of his term."
Smith recently testified before the House Homeland Security Committee about Microsoft's security errors. Microsoft came under fire on Friday after a global outage caused by a defective update from cybersecurity company CrowdStrike.
