A law written in 1914 is being pointed at the way venture capital has always worked

The Justice Department has spent nearly a year investigating Andreessen Horowitz over the board seats its partners hold at two competing data companies, according to reports published on 17 and 18 August. Co-founder Ben Horowitz sits on the board of Databricks; partner Martin Casado is a director at Fivetran. Both sell enterprises the machinery for collecting, organising and analysing large amounts of data, which is the raw material for the AI systems those enterprises are building. Section 8 of the Clayton Act, passed in 1914, bars one person from sitting on the boards of two competing companies, on the reasoning that a firm is less likely to fight a rival it shares a boardroom with. The novel question is whether that ban reaches a venture firm represented by two different partners rather than one individual wearing two hats. No enforcement decision has been made, and the investigation is proceeding despite the firm's close ties to the current administration.

✓ Verified · 4 sources

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