Wired investigates if gay guys really run tech or just have better taste

A WIRED magazine social media post promoting an investigative article about gay influence in Silicon Valley tech industry. The post features a long article excerpt discussing the "gay tech mafia" rumor, followed by an image collage with pull quotes and statistics. The collage includes photos of a building being held by muscular arms, a handshake, and large statistics, all styled in a glossy magazine aesthetic. Extracted text: WIRED • Follow 18h Ever since tech reporter and WIRED contributor Zoë Bernard started covering Silicon Valley in 2017, she had heard variations of the rumor that gay men run Silicon Valley. On its face, a gay tech mafia seemed too dumb to warrant actual investigative inquiry. Sure, there were gay men in high places: Peter Thiel, Tim Cook, Sam Altman, Keith Rabois, the list went on. But the idea that they were operating some kind of shadow cabal seemed born entirely of homophobia, the indulgence of which might play into the hands of conspiracy-minded conservatives like Laura Loomer, who, in 2024, tweeted that the "high tech VC world just seems to be one big, exploitative gay mafia." Over time, though, the rumor refused to die, eventually curling into something closer to conventional wisdom. It is an idea so taken for granted, in fact, that when Bernard called up a well-connected hedge fund manager to ask his thoughts about what is sometimes referred to in industry circles as the "gay tech mafia," he audibly yawned. "Of course," he said. "This has always been the case ... This is not some Illuminati conspiracy theory. And you do not have to be gay to join. They like straight guys who sleep with them even more." In conversations with 51 people—31 of them gay men, many of them influential investors and entrepreneurs—a portrait emerged of gay influence in Silicon Valley that is intricate, layered, and often contradictory. It is a world in which power, desire, and ambition interweave in ways both visible and unseen, a world that is, in some ways, far richer—and more complicated—than the rumors themselves suggest. Tap the 🔗 to read the full story: https://www.wired.com/story/inside-the-gay-tech-mafia/ MEMBERS ONLY "Of course the gay tech mafia exists. This is not some Illuminati conspiracy theory. And you do not have to be gay to join. They like straight guys who sleep with them even more." THE BIG STORY INSIDE THE MEMBERS ONLY "For sure, gay men are overrepresented and have an unbelievable run in the Bay Area. In a city that has the most venture capital in the world, it isn't surprising that this money is going directly to gay men." "People say I'm gay. There's always jokes. Like, 'How'd you get the money, bro?'" MEMBERS ONLY 0.5% Between 2000 and 2022, only 0.5 percent of venture capital went to LGBTQ+ founders.