Date: 2025-08-21 Page is: DBtxt003.php txt00027979
US SOCIETY
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
Andreessen Horowitz just hired Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine who was acquitted after choking a man to death on a New York City subway
ANDREESSEN HOROWITZ
Andreessen Horowitz just hired Daniel Penny, the ex-Marine who was acquitted after choking a man to death on a New York City subway
Daniel Penny at the Manhattan Criminal Courthouse in December.
Alex Kent/Getty Images
Original article: https://fortune.com/2025/02/05/daniel-penny-andreessen-horowitz-a16z-investing-david-ulevitch/
Peter Burgess COMMENTARY
I was aware of the case of Daniel Penny but at the time I did not follow the details of the case very closely.
The problems of homelessness, of unemployment, of mental illness, and more are very real, but the solutions are not obvious and not easy. The fact that Daniel Penny killed someone in the New York subway system who had these issues is a bad outcome, but maybe better than an unknown alternative! I do not know the answer to this.
That Andreessen Horowitz has chosen to employ Daniel Penny is good. I do not have a lot of details, but I am of the view that people should get opportunity ... that a single event or incident should not wreck a lifetime.
Serial bad events are different ... but single bad events deserve a second chance ... and that is what AH seems to be doing.
Good!
I am also reminded of some military training that I was exposed to when I was growing up in the UK. As a 16 year old cadet, I participated in a short Royal Marines training program during which time I remember being told about a large number ... more than a dozen ... ways a marine could kill an adversary with his bare hands. Daniel Perry was a US marine, and while I do not knopw details of their training, I am sure that it will be just as serious, and potentially lethal. I did not benefit from military training in the UK because mandatory military training was phased out days before I was old enough. In some ways it was good to miss 2 years of national service and get on with my academic education ... but missing the military experience was a downside.
Over a period of many years, I have had important interactions with military people ... in support of my work in the civilian arena ... and making it safe for me to be there.
I have also much respect for military training ... and the teamwork that is an essential part of military success.
But expecting the military to improve government and politics ... or industrial productivity and socio-economic well-being ... is not going to be a success.
The idea that Trump thinks that saving money by cutting back on the cost of USAID would be an improvement for the USA is utterly wrong and essentially stupid ... but I am not surprised. Trump may be able to get peoples' attention, but sharing the wealth is not part of the Donald's agenda! Neither Trump nor any of his team nor his supporters seem to have a clue about how the world works and how aggregate prosperity can be increased ... though he has been good at growing his own prosperity, mainly at other peoples' expense.
Peter Burgess
Written by Alena Botros
February 5, 2025 at 12:41 PM EST
Daniel Penny, who studied architecture and was cleared on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in a case that rocked New York City, was hired by venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz. His bio on the a16z website identifies him as a deal partner.
Famed Silicon Valley venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz has a new deal partner: Daniel Penny, the former Marine who was acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide in December after fatally choking another passenger on a New York City subway.
The a16z team Penny was hired to join is called “American Dynamism,” which, per the company website, invests in those that support American interests: aerospace, defense, public safety, education, housing, supply chain, industrials, and manufacturing. A photo of Penny appears in its “Team” gallery.
In a memo to employees on Tuesday shared with the New York Times, David Ulevitch, a partner at the firm, wrote: “We believe in Daniel and are excited to have him as part of our team.”
In the memo, Ulevitch said the firm plans to teach Penny “the business of investing.” Penny was an architecture student at the New York City College of Technology, also known as City Tech.
In explaining a16z’s hiring decision, Ulevitch wrote: “I believe, as I know many of you do, that Daniel acted with courage in a tough situation,” according to the website The Free Press, the first to report the news. “He was acquitted of all charges. Beyond that, it has always been our policy to evaluate the entire person and not judge them for the worst moment in their entire life.”
The high-profile criminal case rocked New York City and beyond as videos capturing the incident spread online. In May 2023, a homeless man with a history of mental illness named Jordan Neely entered a subway car, and when he started acting erratically, Penny put him in a chokehold, dropping Neely to the floor. A debate on race, self-defense, and vigilantism followed the death, and Penny was later arrested and charged. A jury found him not guilty of criminally negligent homicide after a prior manslaughter charge was dismissed. Conservatives who rallied behind him cheered.
Vice President JD Vance posted “incredible news” in response to reporting that Penny was hired by Andreessen Horowitz. On the day of Penny’s acquittal, Vance wrote: “thank God justice was done in this case. It was a scandal Penny was ever prosecuted in the first place.”
Marc Andreessen, a cofounder and general partner of a16z, backed President Donald Trump in the latest election, despite being openly critical of the real estate magnate in 2016 and instead backing his opponent Hillary Clinton. This summer, Andreessen shelled out $2.5 million to a pro-Trump super political action committee and an additional $844,600 to a Trump joint fundraising committee, according to data from the Federal Election Commission, Fortune reported earlier. He has helped Elon Musk with his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) too.
Not long after his acquittal, Penny was invited to attend a football game with Trump and Vance. Penny sat in the luxury box.
Andreessen Horowitz and Thomas Kenniff, Penny’s lawyer during his trial, did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment.