SAN FRANCISCO — Deep-Pocketed Cryptocurrency Executive Chris Larsen become a force One of the Democratic donors to the midterm elections, he told POLITICO that he plans to support Gavin Newsom “in every way we can” in a possible 2028 presidential run.
“I’m a big believer in Gavin,” the San Francisco billionaire and Ripple co-founder said in an interview. “He’s got it right – he’s struck the right balance between technology and the wider community, while AI is only going to get more sophisticated.”
Larson’s comments reflect an early rally among Democratic donors around the state’s governor ahead of 2028, amid a broader shift to the right in Silicon Valley, according to interviews with more than a dozen prominent donors, bundlers and strategists in the tech industry. Another prolific Democratic donor, Garry Tan, CEO of startup incubator Y Combinator, told POLITICO that Newsom offers an alternative to the Democratic party’s progressive left, which threatens to kill the “tech golden goose” that drives California’s economy and tax base.
“He has actually shown that he can be a moderate leader here,” Tan said in an interview, without expressing endorsement. “Now, people want to eat goose. I thought, ‘Hey, how about we just eat eggs?'”
To Newsom, Silicon Valley represents an extremely important constituency and, in the Trump era, an increasingly hostile constituency. Amid the latest conflict, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, a longtime friend of Newsom’s, reportedly told Newsom Last winter, during a tense conversation at Larson’s Christmas party in a treehouse on an estate among redwood trees in Marin County, he left the state over a proposed wealth tax.
But among tech influencers who still have their wallets open to Democrats, Newsom is taking advantage. As the former mayor of San Francisco, he has extensive ties to a Silicon Valley fundraising ATM that funded presidential campaigns. He has raised or helped raise hundreds of millions of dollars over the years in his own campaign and with super PACs and other committees, including those fighting recalls and redrawing congressional districts in response to Donald Trump. He has maintained close relationships with tech giants such as Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff, Democratic megadonor Reid Hoffman and investor Ron Conway. He spent years building relationships with startup founders and venture capitalists who transformed the Bay Area into a global economic engine, allowing him to communicate on a first-name basis via text with numerous industry leaders.
One Democratic donor adviser who spoke on condition of anonymity put it bluntly: “Some of the tech donors who have turned to the dark side since Trump may come back, and the only candidate I really think they’ll come back to is probably Gavin, just because they’ve known him for so long.”
Earlier this week, Netflix co-founder and another huge donor Reed Hastings told the Los Angeles Times“Gavin is the candidate who can inspire both the left and the center.”
Newsom has done little to target Silicon Valley Democrats. Kamala Harris, a fellow Californian who is considering a 2028 run, posted record fundraising in her 2024 presidential campaign, including from many tech donors. Former Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg held numerous fundraisers at the homes of wealthy donors in Palo Alto during the 2020 campaign, when he was seen as a centrist alternative to the liberal populism of Elizabeth Warren or Bernie Sanders. Rep. Ro Khanna, who represents much of Silicon Valley, has long been a top fundraiser here, even as he has feuded with some billionaires over his support of a California wealth tax.
Contenders such as Maryland Gov. Wes Moore, Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker and Kentucky Gov. Andy Beshear are in the early stages of building Silicon Valley donor networks, according to several Democratic consultants in the area. Moore Host Artificial Intelligence Executive Last month, Microsoft and other companies held meetings at the governor’s mansion.
Many Democratic donors and bundlers say they move money based on calculations that Democrats are most likely to win back the White House. Many Bay Area tech donors, including those in the nascent artificial intelligence industry, have spent tens of millions of dollars to promote San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan as a potential successor to Newsom, a sign of how shallow their loyalties may be.
But Newsom is here to make good on years of goodwill. Protecting and promoting the Valley has been a thread throughout his tenure as mayor and two terms as governor. He pushed back from the bill policies he said would undermine California’s tech dominance Regulating Artificial Intelligence or Ban self-driving trucks He warned that proposals to tax billionaires’ assets could squeeze vital revenue out of the state.
While he has closer ties to San Francisco’s old money scene (dominated by legendary figures and families like the Gettys and the Bills) than to Silicon Valley, the heart of which lies an hour south of San Francisco, the two worlds are intertwined.
As Silicon Valley’s second Democratic fundraiser put it, “There is overlap.”
Additionally, San Francisco itself has become the economic center of the U.S. AI boom, creating a new class of wealthy investors, employees, and executives those who have been reinvented Mid-term donation status.
Newsom’s supporters in Silicon Valley see him as the liberal counterpart to Trumpism — a skilled orator who can win while maintaining a pro-business outlook. Larsen, the cryptocurrency giant with a market capitalization of nearly $13 billion, believes the governor provides a prudent approach to technology regulation that supports consumer protection without causing a drag on the industry.
“I do think he’s going to be the candidate,” Larson said. “His instincts are incredible. It’s early days but we’re doing everything we can to support him.”
