Sequoia partner publishes debunked Brown firing theory, testing new leadership

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire is also drawing unpopular attention to the famous firm after accusing a Palestinian student of being behind the December 13 Brown University mass shooting and the subsequent killing of an MIT professor.

In a since-deleted post on X, Maguire opined that it “appears” that the student was the perpetrator, pointing to Brown “deleting his online presence.” Instead, authorities identified the shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was later found dead in a storage facility in New Hampshire. Brown officials said they removed the student’s digital access as a precaution against dangerous thoughts.

Fast Company reprinted two of Maguire’s posts were removed on Friday (previously he had left a disturbing post online and not removed it comments thought that the MIT professor was considered Jewish). The incident follows months of controversy targeting Muslims and Palestinian activists, including calling New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani an “Islamist” in July. The document generated a rapid response online, with nearly 1,200 startups and technology experts signing on. an open letter prompting Sequoia to take action. After that an open letter appeared to help Maguire.

The new news raises questions about whether Sequoia’s new leadership — managing partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who took over last month — can or will restart Maguire’s affairs. Chief Operating Officer Sumaiya Balbale he left the company in August due to Sequoia’s inaction over Maguire’s anti-Muslim comments, according to previous Financial Times reports. Former managing partner Roelof Botha, who resigned in November, defended Maguire’s conduct during the interview process at TechCrunch Disrupt in October, calling Sequoia a firm believer in “free speech.”

“Internally, we celebrate diversity of thought, and we want ‘proud’ people within Sequoia,” Botha said, referring to Maguire. He suggested that Maguire has a “real track record” that attracts other founders. Maguire has led ventures in a number of defense technology and AI startups, and is said to be closely associated with Elon Musk’s companies, overseeing Sequoia’s investments in Neuralink, SpaceX, The Boring Company, X, and xAI.

However, Botha accepted Maguire’s transfer in an open-minded manner. “Does it come with an exchange? Yes, it does,” he said.

Lin and Grady have not spoken publicly about Maguire’s behavior since taking over.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for Maguire’s ouster, telling Fast Company that the allegations against him are “irresponsible and extremely dangerous.”

TechCrunch has reached out to Sequoia for comment.