DOJ probes Andreessen Horowitz over partners sitting on competing AI boards
The Justice Department is nearly a year into a probe of whether Andreessen Horowitz violates the rarely invoked 1914 ban on interlocking directorates — Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks' board, Martin Casado on Fivetran's. What is new is the target: the firm itself rather than one director, which puts the standard venture practice of holding seats across a single sector at issue for a $90B-AUM investor. No decision has been made, and comparable cases have ended with a director giving up one seat.
Source: fortune.com ↗
The investigation of Andreessen Horowitz, which has closely aligned itself with the second Trump administration, is particularly noteworthy.
Fortune
Why this matters
- → Venture firm's board seats across competing AI companies may violate 1914 antitrust law.
- → Targets the firm itself, not individuals — expands enforcement scope to standard VC practice.
- → A $90B AUM investor now subject to rarely-used interlocking directorate rules.
Antitrust vs. venture normal