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A16Z spends $1.49M in Washington lobbying, while rivals mostly sit out

https://techcrunch.com/2025/08/25/a16z-spends-1-49m-in-washington-lobbying-while-rivals-mostly-sit-out/
5•gpi•1h ago

Comments

Fade_Dance•57m ago
Why does it seem so cheap to buy Washington influence? I've never understood this, and have always felt like I must be missing something.

a16z has 60 billion AUM. $560k vs $1.47mm is completely meaningless, yet it seems like most of the time I'm reading these stories, the huge multinational consortium lobbying fees can be counted in increments of $500k/15 minutes of income.

Granted, that has changed recently with more traditional style international bribing, but the uniquely American lobbying angle has always bewildered me a bit.

Presumably, most of the transactional value is contained in connections and relationships which can't quantified, and the actual "lobbying fees" are performative bowties.