Sen. J.D. Vance of Ohio shakes hands with former President Donald Trump during a rally in Delaware, Ohio in 2023. Vance has ties to tech billionaires who are endorsing his vice presidential nomination. Drew Angerer/Getty Images
Drew Angerer/Getty Images
While Ohio Senator J.D. Vance’s Appalachian roots are well-known, thanks to his best-selling memoir “Hillbilly Elegy,” another aspect of Vance’s background is now gaining attention: His connection to prominent Silicon Valley billionaires.
Vance’s 2016 book about the struggles of his childhood was published right around the time he began to quietly cement his ties to a cadre of mega-wealthy tech powerbrokers