Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer is running for governor

Billionaire hedge fund founder Tom Steyer announced Wednesday that he is running for governor of California, arguing that he is not beholden to special interests and can take on companies that make life in the state unaffordable.

“The richest people in America think they earned it all. Bulls… this is ridiculous,” Steyer said in an online video announcing his campaign. “We have a corrupt government. It’s been bought by corporations, and my question is: Who do you think will change this? Sacramento politicians are afraid to change this system. Not me. They’ll hate it. Keep it going.”

Steyer, 68, founded Farallon Capital Management, one of the nation’s largest hedge funds, and left in 2012 after 26 years. Since his departure, he has become a global environmental activist and a major donor to Democratic candidates and causes.

But the hedge firm’s investments — notably a giant coal mine in Australia that has cleared 3,700 acres of koala habitat and a company that runs immigrant detention centers along the U.S.-Mexico border for U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement — will make it vulnerable to political attacks from its rivals in the governorship.

Steyer expressed regret for his involvement in such projects, saying that this was the reason he left Farallon and focused his energy on combating climate change.

Democratic presidential candidate Tom Steyer addresses crowd at presidential primary night party in Columbia, S.C.

(Sean Rayford/Getty Images)

Steyer had previously flirted with running for governor and the U.S. Senate but decided against it, opting instead to run for president in 2020. He left after spending nearly $342 million on his campaign, which received little attention before ending his run in the South Carolina primary.

Next year’s race for governor is in flux after former Vice President Kamala Harris and Sen. Alex Padilla decided not to run and Proposition 50, Democrats’ successful effort to redraw congressional districts, consumed all political oxygen during the off-year elections.

Many voters are undecided about who they want to replace Gov. Gavin Newsom, who is unable to seek reelection due to his tenure in office. That’s according to a survey released this month by the UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies and co-sponsored by The Times. In the poll, Steyer received the support of 1 percent of voters.

Steyer has long been a philanthropist in support of progressive causes in recent years; most recently, he spent $12 million to support a voting redistricting measure. But when he became the focus of one of the ads, rumors spread that he was considering running for governor.

In previous ballot initiatives in California, Steyer has successfully supported efforts to close the corporate tax loophole and raise tobacco taxes, and has fought against oil industry-backed efforts to roll back environmental legislation.

His campaign platform is to build 1 million homes in four years, lower energy costs by ending monopolies, make preschool and community college tuition-free, and ban corporate contributions to political action committees in California elections.

Steyer’s brother Jim, who leads Common Sense Media, and former Biden administration U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy are aiming to place an initiative on next year’s ballot to protect children from social media, especially chatbots accused of encouraging young people to kill themselves. Newsom recently vetoed a bill aimed at solving this AI problem.