Tech billionaires pour unprecedented sums into California races ahead of primary

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Tech billionaires have directed hundreds of millions of dollars toward California candidates, ballot measures and lobbying efforts ahead of the state’s June 2 primary election, according to campaign finance filings with the California secretary of state. An analysis of those records found that Google co-founder Sergey Brin, crypto mogul Chris Larsen and executives from companies including Meta, Amazon, Snap and Palantir have collectively poured money into races at every level of state and local government.

Francesco Trebbi, a public policy professor at the University of California, Berkeley, said the spending reflects a strategic effort to shape the regulatory environment for the technology industry. “This money is flowing in the direction of politicians that can be influential in defining the regulatory agenda for the next five years,” Trebbi said. “Reinforcing the cycle of economic power produces political power, and political power further establishes economic power.”

The disclosed spending likely understates the total. Trebbi said dark money entities — organizations not required to disclose their donors — are a common tool for political influence. “These people are sophisticated political givers, so they will use both visible and invisible forms of influence,” he said. “What we’re seeing now is just the tip of the iceberg.”

Brin’s opposition to the billionaire tax

Brin, whose net worth is approximately $290 billion, has donated at least $66 million to a Super PAC dedicated to blocking a proposed one-time 5% tax on California billionaires. The measure is set for a vote on the November ballot, with proceeds intended to fund education, food assistance and healthcare programs. Brin also spent $500,000 in San Francisco last month to oppose a city measure that would expand a tax on high-paid CEOs, according to campaign finance filings.

The donations came even after Brin relocated from California to Nevada late last year. Larsen and Brin did not respond to requests for comment.

Mahan as the tech industry’s favored candidate

Of the 62 candidates on the June 2 primary ballot, Democratic gubernatorial candidate Matt Mahan has emerged as the tech industry’s leading beneficiary. The centrist Democrat and San Jose mayor received nearly $50 million in contributions since announcing his candidacy in late January, according to Politico — more than any other gubernatorial candidate aside from billionaire Tom Steyer’s self-funded campaign of roughly $200 million.

Public records show Mahan received donations from prominent venture capitalists and current or former executives at Google, Amazon, Snap, eBay, PayPal, Stripe, LinkedIn, DoorDash, Reddit, Netflix, Palantir, Anduril, Roblox and Riot Games. Brin donated the maximum individual limit of $78,400 to Mahan’s campaign and contributed $1 million to a pro-Mahan Super PAC called Deliver for California.

Before entering politics in 2020, Mahan worked in the tech sector. He was an undergraduate at Harvard alongside Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg and in 2014 co-founded a startup with funding from Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, tech investor Ron Conway and Napster co-founder Sean Parker.

Mahan said he does not plan to cater to special interests. “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 flood of tech money has not translated into broad political support. Polls have put Mahan at approximately 4% of the vote, and the Brin-funded Deliver for California Super PAC shut down last month. Mahan did not respond to further questions about his interactions with Brin or the termination of the Super PAC.

California Labor Federation president Lorena Gonzalez Fletcher said Mahan is the only Democrat she is not promoting, calling him “the candidate funded by Trump’s big tech billionaires.” State assembly members from Mahan’s district have publicly criticized him, saying he was “handpicked” by the tech industry.

Larsen’s multi-race spending strategy

Larsen, co-founder of crypto company Ripple Labs and worth approximately $12 billion, has taken a broader approach than Brin, funding Super PACs targeting races and issues across California. He has contributed $26 million total to three Super PACs.

The Golden State Promise Super PAC, funded entirely by Larsen and Ripple Labs with $10 million, is devoted to opposing the November billionaire tax. A second PAC, Californians for an Affordable Future, received more than $1 million from Larsen to support Democrat Ben Allen in the race for state insurance commissioner.

A third PAC, Grow California, has received $15 million from Larsen and $5 million from crypto investor Tim Draper. The PAC has injected hundreds of thousands of dollars into roughly a dozen state assembly and senate primaries across California, including more than $1.5 million to assembly candidate Mark Pulido in Orange County and more than $500,000 to senate candidate Scott Sakakihara in Alameda County.

In an interview with Politico, Larsen criticized organized labor’s power in the California legislature. “We have a group of people who are not acting in a pragmatic way. They’re not looking for balance,” Larsen told the outlet. “So we’re going to work on taking out those people who are not working for the people of California.”

Google and Meta’s joint PAC spending

Google and Meta have collectively contributed $10 million to a Super PAC called California Leads, which has distributed funds to candidates in the Central Valley and to many of the same contenders backed by Grow California. Public records show Pulido has received nearly $750,000 from California Leads.

John Bennett, director of the advocacy organization California Initiative for Technology and Democracy, said spending of $500,000 or more on a local district primary represents a “huge sum of money.” He 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.”

Lobbying expenditures

Alongside direct campaign spending, the tech industry has paid record amounts to lobby the California state government. An analysis by CalMatters found that the tech industry paid $39 million in 2025 to lobby the state — more than any previous year and more than the oil and gas industry, which typically leads the state’s lobbying expenditures.

According to a Bloomberg analysis, the largest tech and AI companies spent a collective $109 million on federal lobbying in 2025, making their California state lobbying equivalent to 36% of their federal total.

Other companies, including Airbnb and Uber, have also donated to local assembly and senate races across the state with smaller contributions. Several 501(c)(4) groups backed by Silicon Valley money have also emerged across the Bay Area, sending mailers and robotexts with voter guides highlighting preferred local candidates and suggesting votes on local tax measures.

“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.”