Tom Perkins Responds To Nazi Germany And 1 Percent Criticism,
Says Kristallnacht Was ‘Terrible Word To Have Chosen’
By Philip Ross
on January 27 2014 6:34 PM
Venture capitalist Tom Perkins in his San Francisco office in 2011. Perkins,
co-founder of Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers and the backer of companies ranging from Genentech to Google,
drew the ire of many after the billionaire compared the “progressive war” on America’s 1 percent to the persecution of Jews
in Nazi-controlled Germany.
Reuters
Tom Perkins, a successful American
businessman and billionaire entrepreneur, has come under fire for recent
remarks he made about the “progressive war” on the 1 percent in the United States.
His comments drew the ire of Internet bloggers and Twitter users alike, and even raised eyebrows among his own
colleagues in Silicon Valley. Now, Perkins
responds to those who found fault with his statement.
During an interview with Bloomberg
TV’s Emily Chang on Monday, Perkins apologized for using the word
“Kristallnacht” in his letter to the Wall Street Journal. Perkins said he
regretted the comparison, but “not the message.”
“The 1 percent are not causing the
inequality, they are the job creators,” he told Chang. “It’s absurd to demonize
the rich who create opportunities for others.”
Perkins continued to defend his
writing of the letter, citing the recent spate of “attacks” on his former wife
Danielle Steel and the previous Occupy movement as reasons for his beliefs.
Perkins, who co-founded the
venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, penned an open
letter to the Wall Street Journal in which he compared the treatment of the
wealthy to the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany.
In the letter, published Jan. 24,
Perkins pointed out what he called “parallels” between “fascist Nazi Germany”
and the “progressive war on the American one percent.”
“From the Occupy movement to the
demonization of the rich embedded in virtually every word of our local
newspaper, the San Francisco Chronicle, I perceive a rising tide of hatred of
the successful one percent,” Perkins wrote. “This is a very dangerous drift in
our American thinking. Kristallnacht was unthinkable in 1930; is its descendant
"progressive" radicalism unthinkable now?”
Kristallnacht was an anti-Semitic
riot organized by the Nazis in Nov. 1938. The series of coordinated attacks led
to nearly 100 Jews in Germany
and Austria
being murdered and tens of thousands more going to concentration camps.
Paul Kedrosky, co-founder of
Garibaldi Capital Advisors, described Perkins’ comments as “contemptible,
indefensible, [and] stupid.”
Even Perkins’ own firm quickly
distanced itself from its founder. “Tom Perkins has not been involved in KPCB
in years. We were shocked by his views expressed today in the WSJ and do not agree,”
the firm tweeted Saturday.
While social media users waited
for Perkins to recant his statement, he actually did the opposite, telling Bloomberg News in an email that he
stood by his statement.
“In the Nazi area it was racial
demonization, now it is class demonization,” he wrote.
During Monday’s interview with
Bloomberg TV, Perkins said he still believes there are parallels to draw
between the treatment of Jews in Nazi Germany and today’s one percent. “I was
talking about the persecution of a minority by the majority,” Perkins said.
He added: “My point was that it
can get out of control. That was my thought.”
When Chang asked Perkins if KPCB
should remove his name from their door, Perkins said that’s a decision for
KPCB.
“That’ll be something for them to
decide,” he said. “I don’t care if it comes or goes.”
Nazi
Nazi
Party was a political party for Germany.
Note: Adolf Hitler was
the leader for the Nazi Party, and
the fuhrer for Germany.
Richard R. Burt
was the U.S. ambassador for Germany,
and is a director at the Atlantic
Council of the United States
(think tank).
Rozanne L. Ridgway
was the U.S. ambassador for Germany,
and a director at the Atlantic Council
of the United States
(think tank).
Open
Society Foundations was a funder for the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank), and the Center for American Progress.
George
Soros is the founder & chairman for the Open Society Foundations, was the chairman for the Foundation to Promote Open Society, a
supporter for the Center for American
Progress, and a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone.
Foundation
to Promote Open Society was a funder for the International Rescue Committee, the Aspen Institute (think tank), the Brookings Institution (think tank), Refugees International, the Climate
Reality Project, the Center for
American Progress, the Harlem
Children's Zone, and the Robin Hood
Foundation.
Colin
L. Powell is an honorary director at the Atlantic Council of the United
States (think tank), an overseer at the International Rescue Committee, a strategic
limited partner at Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, and Michael K.
Powell.
Michael K. Powell
is Colin L. Powell’s son, and a
trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank).
L.
John Doerr is a trustee at the Aspen
Institute (think tank), a director at Google
Inc., and a general partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Bill
Joy is a partner at Kleiner Perkins
Caufield & Byers, and was a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank).
James S.
Crown is a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and a member
of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Lester Crown
was a lifetime trustee at the Aspen Institute (think tank), and is a
member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Mellody L. Hobson
is a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago, and the chairman for DreamWorks Animation SKG Inc.
Margaret C.
Whitman was a director at DreamWorks
Animation SKG Inc., and a strategic adviser for Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers.
R.
Eden Martin is the president of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and counsel at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Newton
N. Minow is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and a senior counsel at Sidley Austin LLP.
Michelle
Obama was a lawyer at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the lobby firm for Genentech,
Inc.
Thomas J. Perkins
was the chairman for Genentech, Inc.,
married to Danielle Steel, and is a partner
emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers.
Danielle
Steel was married to Thomas J.
Perkins, and her stepson is Trevor
D. Traina.
Trevor D. Traina
is Danielle Steel’s stepson, and a board
member for the Haas School of Business.
Richard
C. Blum is a board member for the Haas
School of Business, married to Senator Dianne
Feinstein, an honorary trustee at the Brookings
Institution (think tank), and a regent at the University of California.
Cyrus F.
Freidheim Jr. is an honorary trustee at the Brookings Institution (think tank), and a member of the Commercial Club of Chicago.
Walter
E. Massey is a member of the Commercial
Club of Chicago, and was the provost & VP for the University of California.
Genentech
Controversy
In 1999, Genentech agreed to pay
the University of California, San Francisco
$200 million to settle a nine-year-old patent dispute. In 1990, UCSF sued
Genentech for $400 million in compensation for alleged theft of technology
developed at the university and covered by a 1982 patent. Genentech claimed
that they developed Protropin, a growth hormone, independently of UCSF. A jury
ruled that the university's patent was valid last July, but wasn't able to
decide whether Protropin was based upon UCSF research or not. Protropin, a drug
used to treat dwarfism, was Genentech's first marketed drug and its $2 billion
in sales has contributed greatly to Genentech's position as an industry leader.
The settlement was to be divided as follows: $30 million to the University of California General Fund, $85 million to
the three inventors and two collaborating scientists, $50 million towards a new
teaching and research campus for UCSF, and $35 million to support
university-wide research.
Michael Abbott is
a partner at Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers, and was a VP for Twitter
Inc.
Frank
J. Caufield is a co-founder for Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, and a director at Refugees International.
Albert
A. Gore Jr. is a partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, a senior adviser for Google Inc., the chairman for the Climate Reality Project, and was a donor for The Climate Project.
Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers was a donor for The Climate Project.
Carol M. Browner
was a director at the Climate Reality
Project, the energy czar for the Barack
Obama administration, an administrator for the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), and is a senior fellow,
director at the Center for American
Progress.
Melody
C. Barnes was the EVP for the Center
for American Progress, a domestic policy council, director for the Barack Obama administration, and is Barack Obama’s golf partner.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the lobby firm for Genentech,
Inc.
Thomas J. Perkins
was the chairman for Genentech, Inc.,
married to Danielle Steel, and is a partner
emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers.
Mary
Meeker is a partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers, and was an analyst for Salomon Brothers.
Michael R.
Bloomberg was a general partner at Salomon
Brothers, a benefactor for the Harlem
Children's Zone, a donor at the Robin
Hood Foundation, is the founder for Bloomberg
LP, and an advocate for the ONE
Campaign.
Bloomberg News
is a division of Bloomberg LP.
L.
John Doerr is a director at the ONE
Campaign, a director at Google Inc.,
a trustee at the Aspen Institute (think
tank), and a general partner at Kleiner
Perkins Caufield & Byers.
Michelle
Obama is an advocate for the ONE
Campaign, and was a a lawyer at Sidley
Austin LLP.
Barack
Obama was an intern at Sidley Austin
LLP.
Sidley Austin
LLP was the lobby firm for Genentech,
Inc.
Thomas J. Perkins
was the chairman for Genentech, Inc.,
married to Danielle Steel, and is a partner
emeritus at Kleiner Perkins Caufield
& Byers.
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