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Economy

Justice Department probes Andreessen Horowitz over board seats at Databricks and Fivetran

The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a nearly year-long antitrust probe into Andreessen Horowitz over partners sitting on the boards of two startups that later became rivals, Bloomberg reported.

Source: TechCrunch · August 18, 2026 at 10:31 PM · AI-assisted report

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Justice Department probes Andreessen Horowitz over board seats at Databricks and Fivetran
Photo: NASA / Public domain

KUALA LUMPUR, 19 AUGUST 2026 —

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The U.S. Department of Justice has opened a nearly year-long antitrust probe into Andreessen Horowitz over partners sitting on the boards of two startups that later became rivals, Bloomberg reported.

Market Impact

The investigation centres on the firm’s board seats at Databricks, valued at $190 billion, and Fivetran, which combined with dbt Labs in June. Co-founder Ben Horowitz sits on Databricks’ board, while partner Martin Casado serves on Fivetran’s. The probe invokes Section 8 of the 112-year-old Clayton Act, which bars individuals or entities from holding board seats on competing firms.

Several venture capitalists told TechCrunch they were surprised by the announcement. When Andreessen Horowitz first invested, Databricks and Fivetran were not competitors, according to a second Databricks investor who spoke on condition of anonymity. Databricks has since expanded from cloud storage into AI data pipelines and application connectors, overlapping with Fivetran’s core business.

Backing direct rivals has grown more common, with some VCs funding both Anthropic and OpenAI. Holding board seats on competing startups, however, creates a sharper conflict. Directors typically have access to far more sensitive strategic information than non-board investors, one investor said.

A potential remedy is a so-called Chinese wall between Horowitz and Casado to prevent them from sharing confidential information about the two companies. If regulators force Andreessen Horowitz to surrender a seat, founders may place less value on board commitments from top-tier VCs, the same investor said, because future portfolio overlaps could trigger forced exits.

Andreessen Horowitz did not respond to requests for comment, nor did Databricks or the DOJ. The probe marks one of the rare times U.S. antitrust enforcers have targeted venture capital under Section 8, prompting close industry scrutiny.

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