Billionaire VC Mike Moritz Slams New H-1B Visa Fee As ‘Brutish Extortion Scheme’
Billionaire VC Mike Moritz slams new H-1B visa fee as a “brutish extortion scheme”, taking direct aim at the Trump administration’s latest immigration move. The $100,000 annual levy on H-1B visas, announced last Friday, has sparked outrage across the tech industry.
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The H-1B program allows 85,000 skilled foreign workers to enter the U.S. each year. Now, with companies footing a massive new bill, many in Silicon Valley fear the policy will push innovation — and jobs — overseas.
Moritz’s Fiery Rebuke
Michael Moritz, the veteran venture capitalist and former Sequoia Capital leader, compared the White House’s decision to mob-style shakedowns. In his Financial Times op-ed, he wrote that the new fee resembles something out of Tony Soprano’s pork store.
Calling it a “brutish extortion scheme,” Moritz warned that this policy reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of why tech firms rely on foreign talent. It’s not about cutting costs, he argued, but about finding critical skills that the U.S. talent pool cannot fully supply.
Why The Policy Could Backfire
According to Moritz, restricting visas will not protect American jobs. Instead, companies may simply shift operations to cities like Istanbul, Warsaw, or Bangalore. This could drain the U.S. of the very innovation the administration claims to defend.
“Engineers with undergraduate degrees from the better Eastern European, Turkish, and Indian universities are every bit as well qualified as their American counterparts,” he noted.
A Call To Expand, Not Shrink, H-1B
Instead of punishing companies with fees, Moritz suggests expanding the H-1B program. He advocates doubling or even tripling available visas and granting automatic citizenship to STEM PhD graduates from top U.S. universities.
He points to the success stories of foreign-born leaders like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella and Google’s Sundar Pichai, who both came to the U.S. through the H-1B system. Other innovators — including Elon Musk and Instagram’s Mike Krieger — also built their legacies after entering the country on similar visas.
Moritz’s Personal Connection
This debate is personal for Moritz. He himself received a precursor to the H-1B visa in 1979. Reflecting on his journey, he wrote: “Ever since, I have felt grateful.”
For him, America’s openness to skilled immigrants is not just about economics — it’s about preserving the country’s edge as the world’s innovation hub.
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