Sun Microsystems co-founder Scott McNealy told CNBC on Wednesday that CEOs appear to be relieved that the eight years of economic "waterboarding" by the Obama administration has stopped.

"I've been talking to lots of CEOs. I had one who said it very succinctly, a very large Fortune 20-type CEO, and he said, 'All of a sudden after the election, the waterboarding, the eight years of waterboarding stopped,'" said McNealy, who voted for Donald Trump.

"I think that is a strong feeling of a lot of CEOs out there," McNealy told "Squawk Box." "The regulations are coming down. The attacks from the government are coming down."

McNealy, who served more than two decades at CEO of Sun Microsytems , is executive chairman of Wayin, a social intelligence firm he help start in 2011. He describes himself as an outspoken advocate for personal liberty, small government, and free-market competition.

"I've always said, 'the worst CEO is a thousand times better than the best politician in this job,' in the White House," he said.

"I'm a huge believer in the private sector being one that can be managed," he continued. "The government sector is like the definition of a monopoly. A monopoly by definition runs corruptly with high prices and low innovation."

Every job in the public sector "is basically taking a job out of the private sector," McNealy said. To be sure, he added, "I'm not an anarchist and say no government."

"There are roles like state, the court systems, law enforcement, defense, and other things that are natural monopolies," he said.

He argued, however, that in most cases "let the market decide."

"Without the private sector being strong, you lose your personal liberties and freedoms. If you don't have financial liberties and freedoms, you going to lose your personal liberties and freedoms," McNealy said.