Billionaire VC Vinod Khosla Distances His Firm From Exec’s Pro-ICE Remarks
Billionaire investor Vinod Khosla publicly distanced himself and his firm from comments about ICE made by Keith Rabois, a managing director at Khosla Ventures. Rabois had defended federal agents following the fatal shooting of Alex Pretti, a 37-year-old ICU nurse, in Minneapolis.
Tech leaders from companies including Google, OpenAI, and Anthropic have also condemned the shooting and criticizing what they described as unnecessary escalation by ICE agents.
Rabois’ Remarks Draw Internal Criticism
Rabois wrote on X that “no law enforcement has shot an innocent person” and claimed that “illegals are committing violent crimes every day,” responding to a right-wing prompt comparing shootings by federal agents and undocumented immigrants. In follow-up posts, he suggested Pretti was committing a felony and argued that interference with law enforcement is not constitutionally protected.
The comments prompted pushback from within Khosla Ventures. Partner Ethan Choi said Rabois did not speak for the firm and called the shooting “plain wrong” and a needless loss of life. Khosla later backed Choi, making clear the posts did not reflect the firm’s position.
Keith Rabois has served on the boards of several companies, including Yelp and Reddit and is the co the cofounder and chairman of Opendoor Technologies.
Khosla Condemns ICE Violence, Feud With Musk Reignites
Khosla posted his own response, describing “macho ICE vigilantes running amuck empowered by a conscious-less administration” and calling the video of Pretti’s death “sickening to watch.” He added that ICE personnel “must have ice water running thru their veins” and said “humanity should transcend” politics.
The dispute widened as it intersected with Khosla’s ongoing clash with Elon Musk, Business Insider reports. After Khosla accused Musk of promoting a racist agenda and urged nonwhite employees to leave Musk’s companies, Musk responded with personal insults on X. The exchanges unfolded soon after Khosla’s ICE posts, linking the shooting, ICE enforcement, and Silicon Valley’s internal debates over race and policing.
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