Overview
- Reporting on Aug. 17–18 said the Justice Department has spent about a year examining whether a16z partners serving on the boards of Databricks and Fivetran create unlawful interlocking directorates.
- The partners named in coverage are Ben Horowitz on Databricks’ board and Martin Casado on Fivetran’s board, and reporters say both companies are backed by Andreessen Horowitz.
- At issue is Section 8 of the Clayton Antitrust Act, which bars the same person or entity from directing two competing companies in many cases and aims to prevent coordinated behavior and the sharing of sensitive board information.
- The probe is preliminary and has produced no charges; past DOJ resolutions often required a director to resign from one board, but the inquiry could also close without action or prompt a legal test over whether the rule covers firm-level placements.
- The case matters because a16z is a very large investor with roughly $90 billion under management and high-profile Washington ties, so enforcement or a legal ruling could change how venture firms take board seats and how startups value those seats.