Why did Trump choose J.D. Vance ??

[Fla Dem]

16. Tech Billionaires told Trump to pick him.

How a network of tech billionaires helped JD Vance leap into power
July 22, 2024 at 6:00 am

By Theodore Schleifer and Ryan Mac
The New York Times
Last month, JD Vance flew to San Francisco to hold a fundraiser for Donald Trump and to host a private dinner afterward with two dozen tech and crypto executives and investors.

The location was the opulent Pacific Heights mansion of David Sacks, an entrepreneur and podcaster whom Vance had met through tech investor Peter Thiel. Vance, now 39, had worked for one of Thiel’s investment firms in San Francisco in 2016.

During the $300,000-a-person dinner that night, Trump, seated between Sacks and another tech investor, Chamath Palihapitiya, informally polled the room about whom to choose as his running mate. Even with another vice-presidential hopeful, Gov. Doug Burgum of North Dakota, in attendance, Sacks, Palihapitiya and others all had the same answer: Pick Vance, they told Trump, according to two people with knowledge of the exchange.

Break......

Vance’s stint in tech was crucial for forging connections with billionaire executives and investors, including Thiel, Sacks and Elon Musk, who owns the social platform X. Over and over, those men have funded Vance’s political ambitions, raised his profile among other wealthy donors and on social media, and lobbied Trump to choose him as his running mate.

More... https://www.seattletimes.com/business/how-a-network-of-tech-billionaires-helped-jd-vance-leap-into-power/