Partners at Andreessen Horowitz, the blue-chip venture capital firm in Silicon Valley, defended to investors their decision to hire Daniel Penny, a Marine veteran acquitted on a charge of criminally negligent homicide last year, according to an internal memo viewed by The New York Times.
Andreessen Horowitz, the memo said, is most likely the largest investor of public safety and defense venture capital in the country, and “as result, we spend a lot of time with active-duty military, veterans, chiefs of police, sheriffs; these relationships are critical to the success of our companies.”
Mr. Penny’s “military veteran experience can be helpful in continuing to build these relationships, and many of our public safety and defense founders and partners have shared a similar sentiment,” said the memo, which was sent on Wednesday by Jen Kha, the firm’s head of investor relations.
The firm told employees on Tuesday morning that it had hired Mr. Penny. David Ulevitch, an investment partner, said in a separate memo that he had been introduced to Mr. Penny last year and that the veteran had acted with “courage in a tough situation.”
Mr. Ulevitch asked Mr. Penny to join the firm’s American Dynamism investment team, which focuses on the aerospace, defense and manufacturing sectors.
Mr. Ulevitch added that he had conducted “investigations and interviews” with Mr. Penny and believed that Mr. Penny had behaved “honorably and appropriately given the chaotic and dangerous circumstances” on the subway, the memo said.
Soon after the hiring became public, partners at the firm began receiving messages from outsiders and limited partners expressing concern, said two people familiar with the messages, who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
Some of the people asked why Mr. Penny was being hired with no investment experience, while others expressed concern that his highly politicized trial would draw undue attention to the firm.
A spokesperson for Andreessen Horowitz did not immediately respond to a request for comment. A lawyer who represented Mr. Penny during the trial declined to comment on Wednesday.
Partners at the firm, including the co-founder Marc Andreessen, supported President Trump in last year’s election. Some have also gravitated toward right-leaning figures, including Mr. Penny, who was embraced by conservatives during his trial.
A former architecture student, Mr. Penny was charged in 2023 by the Manhattan district attorney’s office with manslaughter and criminally negligent homicide after a video of him fatally choking another passenger, Jordan Neely, on the subway circulated online.
Mr. Neely, 30, had boarded a northbound F train at the Second Avenue station and immediately began to scream at passengers, witnesses said, about wanting to return to jail and not caring if he lived or died. Mr. Penny approached him from the back, put him in a chokehold and took him to the floor.
A four-minute video recorded by a bystander quickly spread online, showing the men struggling on the floor of the subway train. Mr. Neely, who had struggled with his mental health for years, died.
In December, jurors deadlocked on the most serious charge Mr. Penny faced, manslaughter, and the judge dismissed it. Jurors then considered criminally negligent homicide and acquitted Mr. Penny.
For some, the case epitomized their concerns over homelessness, mental illness and crime in New York City. Others saw Mr. Neely as someone in need of help in a city that lets its most vulnerable slip through the cracks.
The Andreessen Horowitz memo acknowledged strong opinions about Mr. Penny, but added that “we believe there is long-term value in expanding our network in collaboration with Daniel and are excited to have him as part of our team.”
