Business leaders react to Donald Trump's election victory

• Business leaders have reacted to Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.
• Silicon Valley was politically divided in the run-up to the election.
• Here's what some of the most influential business leaders have to say about the election outcome.

Top business leaders, investors and philanthropists have reacted to Donald Trump's victory in the presidential election.

Fox News called the race early Wednesday morning. A little less than four hours later, forecasts from CNN and other news outlets estimate that Trump needed more than 270 Electoral College votes to win the presidency.

Throughout the election campaign, there was disagreement in Silicon Valley about which candidate to support.

Although Silicon Valley has historically leaned left, some of the biggest names in tech, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and venture capitalist David Sacks, have leaned right this election season.

Still, 875 venture capitalists have pledged to vote and donate to Harris as part of a campaign called VCsForKamala. A Business Insider analysis of publicly available FEC data found that VCs overall favored Democrats.

Some CEOs and executives said Trump would better protect their business interests. Trump is expected to cut the corporate tax rate, extend tax cuts from his first term – the largest of which hit corporations and wealthy Americans -, ease some regulations and increase tariffs.

Labor experts say Trump could reverse policies making it easier to join unions and loosen workplace safety regulations.

However, others fear that Trump's economic plans could have an inflationary effect. Prices are up more than 20% compared to President Joe Biden's first 45 months, which the administration blames on the pandemic and Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

Economists at think tanks across the political spectrum have written that mass deportations and tariffs — which could range from 10% to 20% on most foreign goods — could drive up inflation or hurt GDP.

Here's what some of the wealthiest and most influential business leaders have to say about the election results.