JD Vance Says He Exited Startup Board to Consider Political Run
JD Vance #JDVance
(Bloomberg) — JD Vance, the author of the best-selling “Hillbilly Elegy,” said he chose to resign from the board of an agriculture startup due to his political ambitions, disputing the notion he had been forced out.
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Vance, who recently vacated his seat on AppHarvest’s board of directors, said on Twitter he began talking with members of the board about stepping down last month as he considered a political run.
“The basic thinking was: I’m going to keep speaking my mind, and I’d rather do that unconstrained by the demands of a public board. And I thought the company would be better off too,” he said in a series of Friday tweets.
A partner and co-founder of Narya Capital Management LLC, Vance became a household name after the release of his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy” about growing up White and working-class in the Appalachia region of Ohio. He’s been talking about a possible run for retiring U.S. Senator Rob Portman’s Ohio seat. Last month, tech billionaire Peter Thiel donated $10 million to a super PAC supporting his candidacy.
Bloomberg News first reported the news Vance had left the board of AppHarvest, an agriculture technology company that went public via a special purpose acquisition company in February. The announcement of his departure, made public Tuesday, followed a series of controversial tweets, including his views that Fox News host Tucker Carlson is “the only powerful figure who consistently challenges elites dogma” and that taxes should be raised on businesses that oppose a new spate of state-level voting restrictions.
Vance clarified on Twitter Friday that he’d sent formal notice to the board that he was stepping down on Friday, April 9, and the board resignation became effective the following Monday.
“AppHarvest can confirm the timing of these events,” an AppHarvest spokesperson told Bloomberg News.
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