A new article published in Socio-Economic Review sheds fresh light on how tech founder-CEOs such as Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk have maintained control over some of the world’s most powerful technology firms. In his article, “The political economy of venture capital: winners-take-all and founder control,” Dr David Kampmann argues that the venture capital market has operated under a winners-take-all logic – one that has amplified founder control since 2010.
Drawing on quantitative and qualitative data, the research reveals that a small group of new VC entrants played a decisive role in promoting founder-friendly structures, such as dual-class shares, to win deals and secure outsized returns. This shift has enabled founders of companies like Meta, Alphabet, and SpaceX to retain concentrated voting power long after going public or scaling.
Kampmann’s work highlights a critical contemporary issue: today’s largest US tech monopolies are effectively controlled by a small group of founder-CEOs, often at the expense of outside shareholders, including pension funds and tech workers. The findings help explain the widening concentration of power across the tech sector and challenge the conventional belief that VCs typically constrain founder autonomy.