After President Trump put a travel ban in place affecting seven Muslim-majority countries, tech executives roundly and publicly denounced the move.
Immigrants have played a big role building some major U.S. companies, particularly in tech. A 2011 report from the Partnership for a New American Economy estimates that 45% of high-tech companies in the Fortune 500 were founded by first- or second-generation Americans.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey
Dorsey called the potential impact of Trump’s decision “real and upsetting.”
Chorus CEO Dick Costolo
Chorus CEO and former Twitter chief executive Costolo tweeted strong words for Trump on Saturday, calling him “a coward.”
Salesforce executive Vala Afshar
Afshar tweeted a list of U.S. tech companies that were founded by first- or second-generation immigrants. The list includes Apple, Google and IBM.
Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham
Graham weighed in, saying “This is a good time to remember that without immigration the US will only have 5% of the top people in each field.”
Y Combinator president Sam Altman
Altman also spoke out via a blog post. He called on executives in the tech industry to publicly speak out against Trump’s executive order “at a minimum.
LinkedIn CEO Jeff Weiner
Weiner said “all ethnicities should have access to opportunity, calling it a “founding principle” of the U.S.
Yelp CEO Jeremy Stoppelman
Stoppelman called it a “sad day” for America.
Investor Chris Sacca
Shark Tank star and tech investor Chris Sacca promised to match up to $50,000 worth of donations to the ACLU.
Box CEO Aaron Levie
Levie also promised to donate to the ACLU, and called Trump’s actions “immoral.”
Path CEO Dave Morin
Morin called it “one of the weakest decisions in American history.”
Salesforce CEO Mark Benioff
Benioff re-tweeted numerous anti-ban sentiments before posting his own thoughts.
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg joined the voices lambasting the immigrant ban in a Facebook post Friday.
