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Steve Bannon, Donald Trump’s chief strategist, said last year that people from Asia or South Asia are heavily represented in CEOs in Silicon Valley:

When asked if he agreed, Bannon responded: “When two-thirds or three-quarters of the CEOs in Silicon Valley are from South Asia or from Asia, I think . . . ” he didn’t finish his sentence. “A country is more than an economy. We’re a civic society.”

The Huffington post cites a study an organisation called the Ascend Foundation to say that the number is much smaller. However, I haven't been able to find any independent studies corroborating with this. The introductory section of the study cites another study that Asians are under-represented, but it's also by the Ascend Foundation.

It should go without saying that whether Bannon's comment is true is separate from whether it's relevant, but are two thirds of CEOs in Silicon Valley from South Asia or from Asia?

Related question: Were more than a half of all Silicon Valley tech companies founded by immigrants between 1995 and 2005? (about founders, not CEOs, and about immigrants in general)

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Andrew Grimm
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    Sounds like he started saying South Asia, and then expanded to all of Asia. Can we simplify this to "from Asia"? – Oddthinking Nov 17 '16 at 11:53
  • Are you asking if they are Asian or from an Asian family (i.e. where their parents or grandparents are from Asia)? – rougon Nov 17 '16 at 12:39
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    @Oddthinking some people's idea of "Asia" doesn't include "South Asia". Doesn't sound logical, but there you go. – Andrew Grimm Nov 17 '16 at 13:04
  • @rougan good question. – Andrew Grimm Nov 17 '16 at 13:05
  • @rougon It doesn't matter exactly what Andrew is asking ... what matters is, what evidence is there for or against the quoted claim/statement? It's the answers (not the question) that need to be clear about how they define "from Asia". – ChrisW Nov 18 '16 at 00:02
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    From what I can tell, the 2/3 figure looks made up. Everything I see puts the number much lower. The Ascend study, which is an asian advocacy non-profit (so may be "independent" depending on your POV) looks like it is based on reliable data and I don't see any reason to think it is as off as it would need to be to justify Bannon's statement. – rougon Nov 18 '16 at 02:59

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