Jan 21, 2025
Andrew Dudum, and his company Hims & Hers Health, just kicked $1 million to Donald Trump's inauguration fund, perhaps because he's concerned about the administration's future plans when it comes to mail-order drugs.Much like the CEOs of Meta, Alphabet, and Amazon all showed up to kiss the ring at Trump's second inauguration, after giving considerable sums to help get Trump get elected, Andrew Dudum, the SF-based founder and CEO of Hims & Hers Health has a stake in the new administration's views toward his business.A so-called digital health startup, Hims & Hers emerged in 2016, first focused on easy access to erectile dysfunction drugs for men, but soon expanding into the worlds of hair loss for women and men, anxiety medications, and now the weight-loss medications known as GLP-1s. As CNBC reported, Hims & Hers became a breakout star in the digital healthcare space in 2024, in a year when similar companies like GoodRx and Teladoc were taking a beating following the highs of mid-pandemic demand.Thus, as Axios first reported, Hims & Hers wants a leg up with the new administration, with the looming possibility that RFK Jr., who generally is skeptical of medications and vaccines, could launch some sort of crackdown or regulations that negatively impact the digital health space. As CNBC notes, RFK has already said in a recent interview that while GLPs may "have a place" in the system, the "first line of response" to obesity should be lifestyle changes.Dudum and his company donated $1 million earlier this month to the Trump inauguration fund, a donation which likely guaranteed him some sort of dinner or sit-down with Trump and JD Vance during the inauguration celebrations.Hims & Hers offered only this statement: "At Hims & Hers, we stand with leaders and advocates who are committed to improving America's broken healthcare system. For far too long, this system has forced Americans to struggle — financially and with limited access — to get essential medications and the care they need, especially for stigmatized conditions."As first noted in the Found SF newsletter, Dudum and his wife Lea Dudum are the backers behind George's Donuts & Merriment, the swanky new doughnut shop, cafe, and wine bar that just opened two weeks ago in West Portal. The chef-partner and doughnut maestro is Spruce and Bacchus Group pastry veteran, Janina O’Leary. And the namesake of the place is George Cawog, Andrew Dudum's Palestinian grandfather, who ran a launderette in Oakland for many years and liked to take his grandchildren next door for doughnuts.Related: It's the Biden Administration's Fault That Big Tech Embraced Trump, Says Marc Andreessen
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