DOJ Probes Andreessen Horowitz Over 2 Board Seats Under 112-Year-Old Antitrust Law
Updated
Updated · TechCrunch · Aug 21
DOJ Probes Andreessen Horowitz Over 2 Board Seats Under 112-Year-Old Antitrust Law
3 articles · Updated · TechCrunch · Aug 21
Summary
The Justice Department has reportedly spent nearly a year investigating Andreessen Horowitz over partners holding board seats at Databricks and Fivetran, two portfolio companies that now compete.
Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks' board and Martin Casado on Fivetran's, an arrangement drawing scrutiny under a 112-year-old antitrust statute rarely used against venture capital firms.
The case turns on how venture firms handle board representation when portfolio companies expand into overlapping markets, even if they were not direct rivals when the investments were made.
That scrutiny could reach beyond a16z, testing a common VC practice as shifting product boundaries make conflicts between portfolio companies harder to avoid.
Could a 112-year-old antitrust law force Silicon Valley's biggest venture capitalists to abandon their board seats as startups evolve into fierce rivals?
If a startup pivots and suddenly competes with its investor's other portfolio companies, who truly controls the boardroom when federal regulators step in?