Tech titans are heavily invested in San Francisco’s mayoral race, flooding millions of dollars into the tight political contest with less than a month to go before the election.
Billionaires and millionaires, such as Camilo Acosta, are fed up with the city’s political system, which is often accused of prioritizing progressive ideology over common sense. The city has a homelessness, crime, drug, and theft problem that has seen little improvement over the years.
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Acosta, who founded a startup sold to Meta in 2020, told the Los Angeles Times his office had been broken into and his laptops looted. Another time, a homeless man wandered into his office in the middle of a manic episode.
Mark Farrell answers a question during a debate for the top five candidates in the race for San Francisco mayor at Sydney Goldstein Theater in San Francisco on Wednesday, June 12, 2024. From left are Ahsha Safai, Farrell, Daniel Lurie, San Fransisco Mayor London Breed, and Aaron Peskin. (Carlos Avila Gonzalez/San Francisco Chronicle via AP)
Police offered little to no help during both terrifying incidents, he said.
Frustrated with the path San Francisco is on, Acosta, who runs a $30 million fund that invests in artificial intelligence, is opening up his wallet in the hope that his contributions will help chart a new course.
Acosta is throwing his financial weight behind Daniel Lurie, a nonprofit executive and heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, who is in the running against incumbent Democratic Mayor London Breed.
There are 13 candidates in the high-stakes race, but the top five include Breed, Lurie, former interim Mayor Mark Ferrell, Board of Supervisors President Aaron Peskin, and Supervisor Ahsha Safai.
In addition to addressing San Francisco’s decadeslong problems, including a lagging post-pandemic economic recovery, the city is ushering in a new area of AI, and the tech industry is paying attention.
This year’s campaign contributions by wealthy tech executives, venture capitalists, and others woven into the industry mark a notable shift in their eagerness to reshape local politics. Two decades ago, San Francisco courted major tech companies with financial incentives and promises of a more active environment. Now, with its roots in deep, big tech wants more say in how the city is managed.
“It used to be that all of us down in Silicon Valley, people thought of San Francisco as an old-fashioned town, not a technology town,” said Russell Hancock, president and chief executive of the think-tank Joint Venture Silicon Valley, adding that the view has “changed significantly” and that San Francisco has became “a major epicenter.”
Here are some of the big names who have donated to San Francisco’s mayoral contest.
Jan Koum, worth $15.2 billion, backing Lurie
In this Monday, Feb. 24, 2014, file photo, Jan Koum, WhatsApp co-founder and CEO, speaks during a conference at the Mobile World Congress. (AP Photo/Manu Fernandez)
Koum, co-founder and retired CEO of WhatsApp, has contributed $500,000 to a committee supporting Lurie. Koum is fairly new to San Francisco politics but has previously spent generously on various Jewish or pro-Israeli causes and the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.
Chris Larsen, worth $3.1 billion, backing Breed
E-Loans Chief Executive Chris Larsen poses in company headquarters in Dublin, California, Friday, Aug. 22, 2003. (AP Photo/Paul Sakuma)
Larsen, a crypto billionaire, is ready to use his considerable clout and bank account to get Breed reelected.
Larsen, a self-made businessman and angel investor best known for co-founding Silicon Valley startup Ripple Labs, spent $750,000 before the March primary supporting two of Breed’s ballot measures that give law enforcement easy access to surveillance tools, such as drones and license plate readers, and another that demands accountability for welfare recipients.
He has also donated $600,000 to an independent committee backing Breed.
Tony Xu, worth $2.4 billion, backing Breed
Jack Box and DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, file, March 2017. (AP)
Xu, a Chinese-American billionaire businessman, co-founded DoorDash with his friends at Stanford University in 2013. He led the company’s IPO in 2020, making him a billionaire at 36 years old.
Born in Nanjing, China, Xu immigrated to the United States when he was 5 years old.
He has given Breed’s camp $100,000.
Oleg Nodelman, worth at least $105 million, backing Lurie
Nodelman, founder of the biotech investment advisory firm EroR1, has given Laurie close to $500,000.
Before EcoR1, he was a portfolio manager at BVF Parkerts, one of the first hedge funds that invested in the biotech sector. He’s also a board member for three publicly traded companies focused on biotechnology.
Garrison Mason Morfit, net worth $75 million, backing Lurie
Morfit, CEO of ValueAct Holdings, gave $100,000 to “Believe in SF, Lurie for Mayor” PAC on Sept. 16.
ValueAct Capital is a San Francisco-based investment firm with more than $10 billion in assets under management. Morfit serves on the advisory council for Princeton University’s School of Public and International Affairs and previously served on the board at Microsoft.
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Jonathan Gans, multimillionaire, backing Lurie
Gans, president of Ironwood Capital Management, has given Laurie $300,000.
He joined the firm in 1996 as a member of its Investment & Risks committee and is a trustee of the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art.
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