Liberal VCs, (More) Conservative CEOs: A Who’s Who of Presidential Campaign Donors in the Boston Innovation Community

Contributions by Leading Massachusetts Technology and Life Sciences CEOs:

Joseph Alsop, CEO, Progress Software
John McCain, D, $2,300
Barack Obama , D, $2,300 *

Joshua Boger, CEO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals

Barack Obama, D, $4,600

Marijn Dekkers, CEO, Thermo Fisher Scientific
Christopher Dodd, D, $2,300

Robert Keane, CEO, VistaPrint
Barack Obama , D, $2,300

Paul Ricci, CEO, Nuance Communications
Barack Obama, D, $2,300

Paul Sagan, CEO, Akamai Technologies
Hillary Clinton, D, $1,000
Bill Richardson, D, $500

Robert Shillman, CEO, Cognex

Rudolph Giuliani, R, $2,300
Mitt Romney, R, $2,300
John McCain, R, $1,040
Fred Thompson, R, $1,000

Henricus Termeer, CEO, Genzyme
John McCain, R, $2,300

James Tobin**, CEO, Boston Scientific
Mitt Romney, R, $2,300
John McCain, R, $2,300

Joseph Tucci, CEO, EMC
John McCain, R, $2,300,
Mitt Romney, R, $2,300,
Christopher Dodd, D, $2,300

Ron Zwanziger, CEO, Inverness Medical Innovations
Barack Obama, D, $2,300
Bill Richardson, D, $2,300

* Alsop’s Obama donation was from “J Alsop, Businessman , Progress,” with the same street address as his McCain donation.

** Only Tobin’s Romney donation listed his Boston Scientific affiliation. But the names, middle initials, and cities of residence were the same in both listings.

Author: Robert Buderi

Bob is Xconomy's founder and chairman. He is one of the country's foremost journalists covering business and technology. As a noted author and magazine editor, he is a sought-after commentator on innovation and global competitiveness. Before taking his most recent position as a research fellow in MIT's Center for International Studies, Bob served as Editor in Chief of MIT's Technology Review, then a 10-times-a-year publication with a circulation of 315,000. Bob led the magazine to numerous editorial and design awards and oversaw its expansion into three foreign editions, electronic newsletters, and highly successful conferences. As BusinessWeek's technology editor, he shared in the 1992 National Magazine Award for The Quality Imperative. Bob is the author of four books about technology and innovation. Naval Innovation for the 21st Century (2013) is a post-Cold War account of the Office of Naval Research. Guanxi (2006) focuses on Microsoft's Beijing research lab as a metaphor for global competitiveness. Engines of Tomorrow (2000) describes the evolution of corporate research. The Invention That Changed the World (1996) covered a secret lab at MIT during WWII. Bob served on the Council on Competitiveness-sponsored National Innovation Initiative and is an advisor to the Draper Prize Nominating Committee. He has been a regular guest of CNBC's Strategy Session and has spoken about innovation at many venues, including the Business Council, Amazon, eBay, Google, IBM, and Microsoft.