Tech billionaires are spending unprecedented sums in California races. Experts say it’s the tip of the iceberg
"From Google co-founder Brin spending $66m to fight a billionaire tax to Google and Meta funding a joint Super Pac, Silicon Valley is engaged in an existential fight for its political power at home
Tech billionaires have shelled out hundreds of millions of dollars ahead of the 2 June primary election in California, in an unrivaled attempt to influence who gets to run the state that Silicon Valley calls home.
The industry has used a cover-all-bases approach, funding candidates and ballot measures big and small, contributing to what looks to be the most expensive primary season in California history. The goal, experts say, is to gain both political and regulatory leverage that will perpetuate dominance in business.
“This money is flowing in the direction of politicians that can be influential in defining the regulatory agenda for the next five years,” said Francesco Trebbi, a public policy professor at the University of California in Berkeley. “Reinforcing the cycle of economic power produces political power, and political power further establishes economic power. So, this cycle is ongoing.”
Combing through campaign finance filings with California’s secretary of state, the Guardian found:
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has spent $66m since January, more than any other donor, to fight a billionaire tax that’s up for a vote on the November ballot.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan has received more donations than any other candidate, including from top executives at Google, Amazon, Snap, LinkedIn, Reddit and Palantir.
Crypto mogul Chris Larsen has funded three Super Pacs with $26m to sway campaigns across California, including giving $1m to back a primary candidate for state insurance commissioner.
Google and Meta have collectively funded a Super Pac with $10m to back assembly and senate candidates in local district races across the state.
Silicon Valley money is flowing toward city primaries as well as state-level ones, with tech-backed Pacs sponsoring voter guides suggesting how to vote on local tax measures.
For Silicon Valley, pouring money into politics at this moment is existential as it races to develop artificial intelligence. With favorable candidates in office, tech companies say they will be able to grow at a breakneck rate while avoiding stifling regulations.
The vast amount of spending that’s been disclosed in public records likely isn’t even the half of it, Trebbi said. People looking to sway election outcomes often fund dark money entities that aren’t traceable through campaign finance filings.
“These people are sophisticated political givers, so they will use both visible and invisible forms of influence,” Trebbi said. What we’re seeing now is “just the tip of the iceberg”.
Money-for-influence leaderboard
The influx of dollars has meant that voters from Oakland to Bakersfield to Orange County have been bombarded with TV ads, robotexts and mailers touting various issues and candidates sponsored by super political action committees (Pacs) funded by the tech industry.
Top spenders for these Super Pacs include billionaires Larsen and Brin. Larsen, the co-founder of crypto company Ripple Labs, is worth about $12bn and has spent millions on more than a dozen primary campaigns up and down the state, targeting races and issues at a city and county level, as well as bigger state-level races. Brin, worth about $290bn, has homed in on fighting a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires up for a vote in November, the proceeds from which are intended to help cover education, food assistance and healthcare programs.
To date, Brin has donated at least $66m to a Super Pac dedicated to blocking the billionaire tax, according to campaign finance filings with the state. The former Alphabet president also spent $500,000 in San Francisco last month to battle a city measure that seeks to expand a tax on high-paid CEOs, which is up for a vote on 2 June. These donations come even as Brin moved out of California late last year to Nevada.
Larsen and Brin did not respond to requests for comment.
Along with contributing millions to Super Pacs and candidates in California, the tech world is also spending eye-popping amounts on lobbying.
An analysis by news site CalMatters found that in 2025 alone, the tech industry paid $39m to lobby the state government. That’s more than any year prior and surpasses what was spent by the oil and gas industry, which typically tops the high roller list. According to a Bloomberg analysis, the biggest tech and AI companies spent a collective $109m on federal lobbying in 2025; that their state lobbying in California is equivalent to 36% of their federal spend showcases the state’s importance to the tech industry.
Tech picks a favorite in the governor’s race
Of the 62 candidates listed on the 2 June primary ballot, one has stood out as the tech industry’s darling: Matt Mahan. The centrist Democrat and upstart mayor from San Jose, a large city in Silicon Valley, entered the race late and quickly made headlines as he racked up contributions from a who’s who of the tech industry.
Before Mahan got involved in politics in 2020, he had a career in the tech sector. He was an undergraduate at Harvard with Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, and in 2014 co-founded a startup with funding from the Salesforce CEO, Marc Benioff, tech investor Ron Conway and Napster co-founder Sean Parker.
Since Mahan’s candidacy announcement in late January, he’s received nearly $50m in contributions, according to Politico – more than any other gubernatorial candidate (with the exception of Tom Steyer’s self-funded campaign of about $200m). Mahan has received donations from prominent venture capitalists, along with former and current executives from Google, Amazon, Snap, eBay, PayPal, Stripe, LinkedIn, DoorDash, Reddit, Netflix, Palantir, Anduril, Roblox, Riot Games and more, public records show.
Google’s Brin donated the maximum limit for an individual campaign donation at $78,400 and contributed $1m to the pro-Mahan Super Pac Deliver for California, according to public records. Mahan flew to Lake Tahoe where Brin lives in March to make a personal appeal to the billionaire and his conservative influencer girlfriend, the New York Times reported. Brin’s girlfriend alleges that Mahan texted Brin afterwards to apologize for attending a No Kings rally.
Mahan’s overtures to both progressives and conservatives haven’t won him many friends among the state’s leading Democrats. Silicon Valley congressman Ro Khanna chose Steyer to endorse and state assembly members from Mahan’s district have publicly criticized him, saying he was “handpicked” by the tech industry. Similarly, Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher, president of the powerful California Labor Federation, saidMahan is the only democrat she’s not promoting because she’s “opposed to the candidate funded by Trump’s big tech billionaires”.
Mahan said he has no plans to cater to special interests and his goal is for the system to work for everyone.
“I’m not running for tech, and if you look at my record – I’ve been in public office now for six years – I think you’d be hard pressed to find – you would not find a single example of me ever doing something to benefit the industry to the detriment of the community,” Mahan said. “If anything, I’ve fought hard to get them to do their fair share.”
The influx of tech cash into Mahan’s race hasn’t bolstered it as much as early predictions forecast. His campaign has failed to gain traction with a wider audience and polls have put him at just 4% of the vote. The Brin-funded Deliver for California Super Pac shuttered last month.
Mahan did not respond to further questions about his interactions with Brin or the termination of the Super Pac.
Targeting state and local primaries
Although the tech industry has mostly focused on a sole candidate for the governor’s race, it has taken more of a scattershot approach in local campaigns. Silicon Valley money has infiltrated nearly every segment of politics – from local ballot measures to state congressional campaigns to the race for California’s new insurance commissioner.
The tech executive who appears most dedicated to local politics is Larsen, the crypto mogul. He’s funded Super Pacs aimed at different causes and candidates. The Golden State Promise Super Pac has received a total of $10m entirely from Larsen and Ripple Labs, public records show. The Pac, which is devoted to combating the billionaire tax that’s up for a vote in November, launched an attack ad against the tax earlier this month.
Another Super Pac supported by Larsen is geared toward the state’s insurance commissioner race. Earlier this month, Larsen donated more than $1m to the Pac, Californians for an Affordable Future, which is dedicated to electing Ben Allen, a democrat. It’s a heated primary race with several candidates vying for the seat, including Bernie Sanders-backed Jane Kim, also a democrat.
Larsen has spread his money across elections for California’s state legislature too, mostly through a Super Pac called Grow California. He’s donated $15m to the Pac, while crypto evangelist Tim Draper has contributed $5m, according to public records. Grow California’s stated goal is to “rebuild a state capital”.
The Super Pac has injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into roughly a dozen state assembly and senate primaries across California. For example, Mark Pulido, who’s running for assembly in Orange county, has received more than $1.5m from Grow California. Likewise, a senate candidate in Northern California’s Alameda County, Scott Sakakihara, has received more than $500,000 from the Pac.
“We have a group of people who are not acting in a pragmatic way. They’re not looking for balance. They’re completely fucking owned by one side,” Larsen told Politico, in reference to organized labor’s power in the legislature. “So we’re going to work on taking out those people who are not working for the people of California.”
Google and Meta have supported a similar Super Pac, California Leads, with $5m each and have distributed funds to several candidates in the Central Valley, as well as to many of the same contenders as Grow California. According to public records, Pulido has received nearly $750,000 from California Leads. The Super Pac’s stated mission is “supporting leaders focused on California’s future”.
John Bennett, director of the advocacy organization California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, said spending upwards of $500,000 on a local district primary is a “huge sum of money”. He’s been studying the races and said the bulk of tech spending has gone to about a dozen open seats in the state legislature.
“They’ve been hyper-focused on those open seats, not going after incumbents this time around,” Bennett said. “So, it seems like they’re doing a long-term strategy to slowly turn the legislature to become more friendly to them.”
Other companies, like Airbnb and Uber, have also donated to local assembly and senate races across the state but with smaller contributions.
City campaigns are seeing a tech infusion too. Joe Lonsdale, a Palantir co-founder, contributed to former reality TV star and Los Angeles mayor hopeful Spencer Pratt – even though Lonsdale lives in Texas, records show. And several 501(c)(4) groups backed by Silicon Valley money have cropped up across the Bay Area sending out mailers and robotexts with voter guides that highlight preferred local candidates, along with suggestions to vote down issues like a union-backed parcel tax.
“Now they’re going at this from multiple fronts,” Bennett said. “They’re spending in elections, they’re spending in the legislature, and they’re trying to do whatever they can to ensure that they don’t lose their foothold in this economic system.”
Lauren Gambino contributed reporting"
