Sequoia partner spreads debunked Brown shooting theory, testing new leadership

Sequoia Capital partner Shaun Maguire is once again drawing unwanted attention to the prominent venture firm after falsely accusing a Palestinian student of being behind the December 13 Brown University mass shooting and the subsequent murder of an MIT professor.

In since-deleted posts on X, Maguire speculated that “it seems very likely” the student was the perpetrator, pointing to Brown “actively scrubbing his online presence.” In reality, authorities identified the shooter as Claudio Manuel Neves Valente, a 48-year-old Portuguese national who was later found dead in a New Hampshire storage facility. Brown officials said they removed the student’s digital footprint as a protective measure against dangerous speculation.

Fast Company republished two of Maguire’s deleted posts on Friday (he has previously left inflammatory content online and did not delete comments he made proposing that the MIT professor was targeted for being Jewish). The incident follows months of controversial posts targeting Muslims and pro-Palestine activists, including calling New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani an “Islamist” in July. That post led to a swift online backlash, with nearly 1,200 founders and tech industry professionals signing an open letter urging Sequoia to take action. An open letter later surfaced supporting Maguire.

The newest episode raises questions about whether Sequoia’s new leadership — managing partners Alfred Lin and Pat Grady, who took over last month — can or will rein in Maguire’s social media activity. Chief operating officer Sumaiya Balbale left the firm in August over Sequoia’s inaction on Maguire’s anti-Muslim comments, according to earlier reporting by the Financial Times. Former managing partner Roelof Botha, who stepped down in November, defended Maguire’s behavior during an interview at TechCrunch Disrupt in October, calling Sequoia a believer in its partners’ right to “free speech.”

“Internally, we celebrate diversity of opinions, and we need ‘spiky’ people inside Sequoia,” Botha said, referring to Maguire. He offered that Maguire had a “specific profile” that appeals to certain founders. Maguire has led investments in numerous defense tech and AI startups, and reportedly has deep connections with Elon Musk’s companies, managing Sequoia’s investments in Neuralink, SpaceX, The Boring Company, X, and xAI.

However, Botha acknowledged trade-offs to Maguire’s outspokenness. “Does it come with trade-offs? Yes, it does,” he said.

Lin and Grady have not publicly addressed Maguire’s conduct since taking over leadership.

The Council on American-Islamic Relations has called for Maguire’s firing, telling Fast Company that his accusations are “deeply irresponsible and incredibly dangerous.”

TechCrunch has reached out to Sequoia for comment.