Ben Horowitz Launches Offensive Against Michael Moritz

A recent clash on social media between prominent tech investors has led to scrutiny over the editorial freedom of the news publication SF Standard, which is three years old. This came after a journalist from the publication contacted insiders for a story regarding venture capitalist Ben Horowitz and his spouse Felicia.

The primary financial supporter of The Standard is veteran investor Michael Moritz. On a frenzied Thursday evening, using the X platform, Horowitz denounced the “upcoming article” as a “sham attack piece” orchestrated by Moritz. He charged Moritz with employing his allegedly counterfeit disinformation “news” outlet to churn out attack articles against his business adversary, himself. Marc Andreessen, Horowitz’s business ally, stepped in later to reinforce the claims and hurled additional insults.

TechCrunch has initiated contact with Moritz as well as SF Standard’s Executive Editor Jon Steinberg for their input. There has been no word from Moritz, but Steinberg provided an email response to TechCrunch, stating: “I can verify that [reporter] Emily Shugerman is presently investigating a story concerning the Horowitzes for the San Francisco Standard. I am unable to divulge further details about the nature of our forthcoming article at this juncture.”

In the past, the Standard has reported on Horowitz and Andreessen, as well as on Moritz. An interesting aspect of some of their reporting has focused on the acquisition of extensive tracts of undeveloped land north of San Francisco by tech moguls and investors, including Moritz and Andreessen.