**The latest controversy to rock Khosla Ventures: Partner Keith Rabois’ inflammatory comments on the Minneapolis ICE shooting**
You won’t believe what just went down over the weekend. A US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officer shot and killed a US citizen in Minneapolis, and the internet is still reeling. Amidst the chaos, I’m talking about a surprisingly vocal response from none other than Keith Rabois, a partner at Khosla Ventures, who took to social media to wholeheartedly defend the agency’s actions.
If you’re not familiar, Keith Rabois is no stranger to controversy. As a prominent venture capitalist, he’s known for sharing his unfiltered thoughts on politics and social issues. And boy, did he ever share some thoughts on this one. His comments sparked a heated debate on X (formerly Twitter) with some folks backing him up and others calling him out.
What’s even more interesting is that his partners at Khosla Ventures didn’t hesitate to distance themselves from his comments. Ethan Choi, another partner at the firm, came out with a statement saying that the events in Minnesota were “clearly improper” and that he just couldn’t see how anyone could think otherwise. Their founder, Vinod Khosla, even chimed in with a message that effectively disowned Rabois’ views.
Now, I’ve got to tell you, Rabois’ comments were… something else. He went as far as to say that the protester was at fault, calling him a “felon” and claiming that ICE has never shot an innocent person. He even claimed that “illegals are committing violent crimes every day” and that ICE’s actions were justified. Yeah, that didn’t sit well with the tech community.
The backlash has been real. Some folks are calling for Rabois to be removed from Khosla Ventures altogether. Others are defending him as a champion of Trump’s policies. Meanwhile, the rest of the tech world is just shaking its head.
Khosla Ventures isn’t new to controversy, though. Remember that time when Sequoia Capital had a similar issue with partner Shaun Maguire’s comments attacking New York City mayoral candidate Zohran Mamdani? Yeah, that didn’t exactly end well for the agency either. Although Maguire still works at Sequoia, their former CEO stepped down.
It looks like the rift between Khosla Ventures partners has spilled out into plain sight, with Khosla himself taking to social media to distance himself from Rabois’ views. For now, the agency remains mum on the situation, but one thing’s for sure: this drama is gonna have some lasting implications.
The tech community is still reeling from the implications of ICE’s actions, and this public feud between Khosla Ventures partners is just the latest in a long line of controversies surrounding the venture capital industry.
