DOJ Antitrust Probe of Andreessen Horowitz Puts VC Board Conflicts Under Scrutiny
Andreessen Horowitz faces a Department of Justice investigation over board arrangements that place two of its partners on the boards of competing companies. Ben Horowitz sits on the board of Databricks while Martin Casado holds a seat at Fivetran, and the DOJ has reportedly been examining the setup for nearly a year using a 112-year-old antitrust law that is rarely applied to venture capital firms.
The situation highlights a growing challenge for venture investors: portfolio companies that once operated in separate markets increasingly expand into each other's territory. Board conflicts are not new, and these companies were not necessarily direct competitors when a16z first invested, but the probe forces firms to reconsider how they manage board seats when market boundaries keep shifting.
TechCrunch's Equity podcast also covers other major stories of the week, including Stripe's $7.5 billion acquisition of AI model router OpenRouter, the widening gap between leading AI companies and the rest, and Rivian spinout Also raising $150 million for autonomous vehicles. Additional topics include Uber's drone delivery partnership with Zipline and Wispr's $280 million raise at a $2 billion valuation, raising questions of whether AI dictation app valuations have peaked.