Google founder backs both Republican and Democrat in California governor’s race while ex-CEO fights billionaire tax | Silicon Valley
As gubernatorial campaigns and a wealth tax proposal heat up, tech billionaires are adding to an already massive spending spree in California politics. Big names pouring millions into state politics include the current and former heads of Google, DoorDash, Reddit, LinkedIn and Facebook, according to recently released campaign finance disclosures; This is evidence of Silicon Valley’s growing interest in politics.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt became a major donor, contributing $1.04 million to the California Business Roundtable, an independent committee campaigning against the proposed Billionaire Tax Act. Applications He was released by the state government. The union-backed tax proposal, opposed by nearly all of the state’s mega-rich, aims to help pay for education, food assistance and health programs.
New campaign applications also reveals that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated to both Republican and Democratic candidates for governor of California and is on both sides of the aisle. Brin contributed $39,200 last week to Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News writer who advised former British prime minister David Cameron. Hilton, himself a billionaire, is married to Google’s former head of communications, Rachel Whetstone.
Brin also bankrolled Democratic candidate Matt Mahan, the Silicon Valley favorite among the crowded Democratic field. Last month, Brin raised the limit on individual campaign donations for Mahan to $78,400. Brin a on Monday $1 million donation An independent committee that worked to elect Mahan was named Deliver for California.
Brin moved here $42 million property Following the billionaire tax proposal, a company on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada donated $20 million in January to the Building a Better California Committee, which is fighting the measure. Schmidt donated $2 million to the same committee during the same period.
Known as a private person, Brin, like the rest of Silicon Valley, has become increasingly involved in politics in 2026. He attended a White House dinner with Donald Trump last year; where the president called his girlfriend, wellness influencer Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, “a truly great Maga girlfriend.” Brin’s ex-wife is Nicole Shanahan. Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate For president in 2024.
Mahan, who went to college with Meta’s CEO Mark Zuckerberg and is seen as a tech-friendly candidate, has managed to raise millions in donations from Silicon Valley since announcing his campaign in late January. New campaign filings from the state show he recently received $39,200 in individual donations from DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. He also earned a maximum of $78,400 from Reddit CEO Steve Huffman, Cruise co-founder and former CEO Kyle Vogt, Napster co-founder and former Facebook president Sean Parker, and Zynga founder Mark Pincus.
In the latest round of campaign filings, Mahan even connected with donors who helped launch companies known to work with the Trump administration, including Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Anduril co-founder Matt Grimm. Like Brin, Lonsdale donated to Hilton.
The fight over the billionaire tax has also seen a steady flow of funds from the tech world. Campaign filings show donors to Building a Better California include DoorDash CEO Xu ($2 million), crypto billionaire and Ripple CEO Chris Larsen ($2 million) and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison ($2 million). Donors to the California Business Roundtable include Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel ($3 million), Ring founder James Siminoff ($100,000) and Larsen ($750,000).
Both Mahan and Hilton have publicly stated their opposition to the proposed billionaire tax, which is still collecting signatures to get on the November ballot. Campaign organizers said in a statement on Wednesday that they were “working day and night” to collect these signatures.
Brin and Schmidt did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
