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Theodore Schleifer

An expert investigative reporter and campaign-finance savant covering power, influence, and money at the intersection of Silicon Valley and Washington.

THE LATEST ARTICLES
NEWSLETTERS
Elon has developed a reputation among Republican fundraisers during his redpilled era as a political flirt.
Theodore Schleifer • October 24, 2023
The Elon-Vivek Sweepstakes & More Ellisonology
New dish on Musk’s budding presidential bromance, how Larry Ellison ghosted Tim Scott, and a new S.B.F. dark-money casualty.
The Rockbridge Network was co-founded by J.D. Vance and Chris Buskirk, the publisher of the pro-Trump journal American Greatness, in 2019.
Theodore Schleifer • October 17, 2023
Rockbridge Over Troubled Waters
The secretive, Trump-friendly, Silicon Valley-inflected donor alliance is less interested in the Republican primary than in redpilling techies into MAGA populism, hyping Tucker’s new mediaco, and moving millions to the G.O.P. grassroots—the latest effort to replace the Koch-era coalition with something younger and edgier.
Caroline Ellison’s testimony and cross-examination were two of the most jaw-dropping moments of the trial.
Theodore Schleifer • October 13, 2023
Caroline in My Mind
In the trial of S.B.F., the defense set out to blame Caroline Ellison, Sam’s former colleague-turned-paramour-turned-cooperating witness. Was this cross-examination really the best he could do?
Sometime in early November, we’ll get an answer to the biggest question of the trial: whether Sam Bankman-Fried testifies, himself, which might not be decided until fairly late in the process.
Theodore Schleifer • October 3, 2023
S.B.F.’s Expected Value Calculation
There are two reasons why Sam let this get to trial, and why he thinks he has a chance at a miraculous outcome. Plus: Reid Hoffman’s war against No Labels, and a new hire at Y Combinator.
Theodore Schleifer • September 26, 2023
S.B.F.’s McConnell Money Tickle, Part 2
As the trial of the century looms, three scoops shed new light on how Sam Bankman-Fried, and even former paramour Caroline Ellison, were part of the McConnell-DeSantis matrix.
donald trump
Theodore Schleifer • September 20, 2023
Trump’s Perfect Thiel Call & Two FTX Bombshells
Dish on Trump’s furious fundraising request to Peter Thiel, the former lawyer buying up FTX bankruptcy claims, and an explosive lawsuit targeting S.B.F.’s parents.
Theodore Schleifer • September 13, 2023
The Silicon Valley Fundraising Stampede
Biden, DeSantis, and Scott will swing by the Bay Area later this month to pass the hat among tech execs.
Ryan Salame always stood out as the linen-and-loafered bro among the Math Camp crowd that surrounded S.B.F.
Theodore Schleifer • September 12, 2023
Inside the Fall of S.B.F.’s Big Cool Buddy
The backstory to the yearlong back-and-forth between prosecutors and Ryan Salame, the Berkshires restaurateur and Republican mega-donor who fought the feds for as long as he could—before folding.
The city was Jan Sramek’s brainchild, but he probably couldn’t have gotten the ball rolling without Sir Mike Moritz, who became the linchpin of the plan.
Theodore Schleifer • September 6, 2023
Mike Moritzopolis
The legendary investor is knee-deep in an epic third act that combines being a modern Ron Conway, a civic-minded political organizer, mega-philanthropist, and the full-blown Robert Moses of Northern California.
It takes upwards of a billion dollars these days to make it to the White House, more than a fair amount of dough, even for a candidate who today is worth some $800 million.
Theodore Schleifer • August 29, 2023
Let Them Eat Vivek
Sure, he strikes plenty of donors as arrogant and annoying in a Harvard debate-kid kind of way. But his campaign is now very real. Vivek has serious financial hype after the first presidential debate, and the G.O.P. heavies have to reckon with him, whether they like it or not.
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