Advertisement
Singapore markets open in 4 hours 42 minutes

  • Straits Times Index

    3,290.70
    -2.23 (-0.07%)
     

  • S&P 500

    5,222.68
    +94.89 (+1.85%)
     

  • Dow

    39,512.84
    +837.14 (+2.16%)
     

  • Nasdaq

    16,340.87
    +184.57 (+1.14%)
     

  • Bitcoin USD

    61,342.96
    +262.55 (+0.43%)
     

  • CMC Crypto 200

    1,268.77
    -43.86 (-3.34%)
     

  • FTSE 100

    8,433.76
    +261.61 (+3.20%)
     

  • Gold

    2,366.90
    -8.10 (-0.34%)
     

  • Crude Oil

    78.20
    -0.06 (-0.08%)
     

  • 10-Yr Bond

    4.5040
    +0.0040 (+0.09%)
     

  • Nikkei

    38,229.11
    -44.99 (-0.12%)
     

  • Hang Seng

    18,963.68
    +487.78 (+2.64%)
     

  • FTSE Bursa Malaysia

    1,600.67
    +11.08 (+0.70%)
     

  • Jakarta Composite Index

    7,088.79
    -7,134.72 (-50.16%)
     

  • PSE Index

    6,511.93
    -103.62 (-1.57%)
     

Some of the richest Silicon Valley Republican executives are refusing to back Donald Trump or Ted Cruz

Julie Bort
Updated
Meg Whitman
Meg Whitman

Tom Pennington/Getty

HPE CEO Meg Whitman

Now that the Iowa caucus is over, it may look like the Republican nominee will be Senator Ted Cruz, Donald Trump or Senator Marco Rubio — the top three winners in Iowa — with an outside shot going to Dr. Ben Carson or Senator Ron Paul, who placed fourth and fifth.

After all, Iowa isn’t famous for predicting the actual nominee. It’s more famous for predicting losers. Since 1972, no candidate who finished worse than fourth in Iowa has gone on to win their party’s nomination, reports the Christian Science Monitor. 

ADVERTISEMENT

But if rich Valley Republicans Meg Whitman and, perhaps, John Chambers have any say about it, this year might be different.

Whitman is CEO of Hewlett Packard Enterprise and a former political hopeful herself. She tried to to get elected as the governor of California in 2010. Like Trump, the billionaire Whitman self-funded most of her campaign.

And Iowa results or not, she’s still backing Governor Chris Christie big time. She signed on for a leading role in his campaign last summer, as co-chair of Christie’s national finance team. (Christie’s other co-chairs include Ken Langone, the billionaire co-founder of Home Depot, and hedge fund manager Steve Cohen.)

Christie only landed 1.8% of the caucus vote in Iowa, which netted him zero delegates in Iowa’s unusual primary process, essentially 10th place. If Iowa’s prediction powers continue, that means he doesn’t have a chance to win the nomination.

Even so, he’s set his sights on New Hampshire and Whitman is there right now stumping for him, reports The New York Times.

Meanwhile, in September, John Chambers, the executive chairman of Cisco, voiced his support for another candidate, Ohio governor John Kasich. He said he wanted to see “a moderate Republican” win the nomination, particularly “a moderate Republican governor.”

So, if these executives offer us a clue, maybe neither the winners nor the loser have been picked quite yet.

NOW WATCH: Research reveals why men cheat — and it’s not what you think


The post Some of the richest Silicon Valley Republican executives are refusing to back Donald Trump or Ted Cruz appeared first on Business Insider.