DOJ’s probe into Andreessen Horowitz over board seats baffles VCs
DOJ’s probe into Andreessen Horowitz over board seats baffles VCs
美国司法部针对 Andreessen Horowitz 董事会席位的调查令风投界感到困惑
The Justice Department has launched a probe into Andreessen Horowitz regarding the firm’s partners serving on the boards of competing companies, Bloomberg reported. The nearly year-long investigation focuses specifically on the firm’s board seats at Databricks, which is valued at $190 billion, and Fivetran, which combined with dbt Labs in June. 据彭博社报道，美国司法部已对 Andreessen Horowitz (a16z) 展开调查，原因涉及该机构合伙人在相互竞争的公司中担任董事会成员。这项已持续近一年的调查重点关注该机构在 Databricks（估值 1900 亿美元）和 Fivetran（6 月与 dbt Labs 合并）的董事会席位。
The firm’s co-founder, Ben Horowitz, serves on the board of Databricks, while partner Martin Casado serves on the board of Fivetran. Several VCs told TechCrunch they were surprised by news of the probe. Databricks and Fivetran are competitors now, but the two companies weren’t rivals when a16z invested in the startups, according to another Databricks investor who spoke on condition of anonymity. 该机构联合创始人 Ben Horowitz 在 Databricks 董事会任职，而合伙人 Martin Casado 则在 Fivetran 董事会任职。多位风投人士向 TechCrunch 表示，他们对这一调查消息感到惊讶。据另一位匿名 Databricks 投资者透露，Databricks 和 Fivetran 目前虽是竞争对手，但在 a16z 最初投资这两家初创公司时，它们并非竞争关系。
Databricks is largely known for its cloud storage products but, with its Lakeflow product, has expanded into AI data pipelines and application connectors. That’s Fivetran’s main business. Given that Andreessen Horowitz has backed hundreds of companies, it’s almost inevitable that some startups will pivot or expand into the same markets, becoming competitors. Databricks 主要以其云存储产品闻名，但随着 Lakeflow 产品的推出，其业务已扩展至 AI 数据管道和应用程序连接器领域，而这正是 Fivetran 的核心业务。鉴于 Andreessen Horowitz 投资了数百家公司，某些初创公司转型或扩展至同一市场并成为竞争对手几乎是不可避免的。
While backing direct rivals has become more acceptable recently, as evidenced by the many VCs that funded both Anthropic and OpenAI, holding a board seat on competing startups creates a far greater conflict of interest. Directors are generally privy to much more sensitive strategic information than non-board investors ever see. 虽然投资直接竞争对手在近期已变得更为普遍（例如许多风投同时投资了 Anthropic 和 OpenAI），但在相互竞争的初创公司中担任董事会席位会产生更大的利益冲突。董事通常比非董事投资者能接触到更敏感的战略信息。
Such conflicts can be resolved by having a partner step down from one of the boards. However, because Databricks and Fivetran have different individuals from the same VC firm on their boards, a16z can institute a so-called Chinese wall between Horowitz and Casado, which would prevent the two partners from sharing confidential information about the two companies with each other, one investor said. 此类冲突可以通过让合伙人退出其中一个董事会来解决。然而，一位投资者表示，由于 Databricks 和 Fivetran 的董事会成员分别由该风投机构的不同合伙人担任，a16z 可以在 Horowitz 和 Casado 之间建立所谓的“防火墙”，防止两位合伙人互相分享关于这两家公司的机密信息。
The investigation invokes Section 8 of the Clayton Act, a 112-year-old law stating that an individual or entity is barred from serving on the boards of competing companies. Since regulators have rarely targeted venture capital with this rule, the industry is watching the DOJ’s probe closely. 此次调查援引了《克莱顿法案》(Clayton Act) 第 8 条。这项拥有 112 年历史的法律规定，个人或实体不得在相互竞争的公司中担任董事。由于监管机构此前很少用这一规则针对风险投资行业，因此整个行业都在密切关注司法部的此次调查。
If a16z is forced to surrender a seat, founders may place less value on board commitments from top-tier VCs, given that those investors might be forced to step down if a portfolio overlap creates a future conflict. Andreessen Horowitz did not immediately respond to our request for comment, nor did it respond to Bloomberg. Databricks and DOJ declined comment. 如果 a16z 被迫放弃席位，初创公司创始人可能会降低对顶级风投董事会承诺的重视程度，因为一旦投资组合重叠导致未来出现冲突，这些投资者可能会被迫退出。Andreessen Horowitz 未立即回应我们的置评请求，也未回应彭博社的置评请求。Databricks 和司法部均拒绝置评。