Less than two weeks after being cleared in the contentious train stranglehold event involving Jordan Neely, former Marine Daniel Penny, reported the Free Press, he has been hired by Andreessen Horowitz, a leading Silicon Valley venture capital firm.
Penny will be a bargain mate for the agency’s American Dynamism exercise, which focuses on investments in defense and government technologies.
US vice chairman JD Vance described it as “incredible information” after learning of his hiring on social media platform X.
The co-founders of Andreessen Horowitz, Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz, have recently endorsed Trump, and their organization has been outspoken about funding projects that serve as a result of their work.
According to the Free Press statement, David Ulevitch, a common partner at the agency, confirmed Penny’s choosing, saying,” He will know the business of investing and he will work to support our investment businesses”. Ulevitch also defended Penny’s activities during the May 2023 train event, writing,” I believe, as I know some of you do, that Daniel acted with confidence in a strong position”.
When Penny placed Had in a stranglehold after witnesses claimed Had was acting in a menacing manner on a Manhattan F train, the incident, which took place on May 1, 2023, became a national hot topic.
Neely, a homeless man with a history of mental illness and over 40 prior arrests, later died, leading to Penny being charged with criminally negligent homicide and second-degree manslaughter. If convicted, Penny faced up to 20 years in prison. However, after a months-long trial, a New York jury acquitted him on December 9, 2023.
Penny’s hiring has been met with both praise and criticism. His new position will involve strengthening the firm’s ties to the public safety and department of defense sectors. Ulevitch emphasized that the company evaluates people based on their entire character rather than on” the worst moment in their life” as a whole.
Penny has largely avoided public view since his conviction, despite being seen at the Army-Navy football game in December with US President Donald Trump and vice president JD Vance.
Despite avoiding public interviews, Penny has previously claimed to still ride the subway and was recently spotted reading a book on a train, per The Free Press.
