Tech billionaires are adding to their already massive spending spree in California politics as gubernatorial campaigns and a proposed wealth tax heat up. According to recently released campaign finance disclosures, the big names investing millions in state politics include current and former CEOs of Google, DoorDash, Reddit, LinkedIn and Facebook, evidence of Silicon Valley’s growing involvement in politics.
Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has become a major donor, contributing $1.04 million to an independent committee, the California Business Roundtable, that is campaigning against the proposed Billionaire Tax Act, according to new documents released by the state government. The union-backed tax proposal, opposed by nearly all of the state’s mega-rich, is intended to help cover education, food assistance and health care programs.
New campaign documents also reveal that Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated to both Republican and Democratic candidates for California governor, playing both sides of the aisle. Brin contributed $39,200 last week to Republican candidate Steve Hilton, a former Fox News contributor who served as an adviser to former British Prime Minister David Cameron. Hilton, also a billionaire, is married to former Google communications chief Rachel Whetstone.
Brin has also bankrolled Democratic candidate Matt Mahan, a Silicon Valley favorite among the crowded field of Democrats. Last month, Brin surpassed Mahan’s individual campaign donation limit of $78,400. On Monday, Brin gave a $1 million donation to an independent committee working to elect Mahan called Deliver for California.
Brin, who moved to a $42 million property on the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe in Nevada after the multibillion-dollar tax proposal, contributed $20 million in January to a committee fighting the measure, Building a Better California. Schmidt donated $2 million to the same committee around the same time.
A notoriously private person, Brin has become increasingly involved in politics in 2026, like the rest of Silicon Valley. She attended a White House dinner with Donald Trump last year, where the president called his girlfriend, wellness influencer Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, a “really wonderful Maga girlfriend.” Brin’s ex-wife is Nicole Shanahan, who was Robert F Kennedy Jr’s running mate for the presidency in 2024.
Mahan, who went to college with Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and is seen as the pro-tech candidate, has been able to secure millions in donations from Silicon Valley since announcing his campaign in late January. New campaign filings from the state show he recently received individual donations of $39,200 from DoorDash CEO Tony Xu and LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman. And he got 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 appearances, Mahan even courted donors who helped launch companies known for working with the Trump administration, including Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and Anduril co-founder Matt Grimm. Like Brin, Lonsdale has also donated to Hilton.
The battle over the billionaire tax has also seen a steady flow of funding from the tech world. Campaign documents show that Building a Better California donors include DoorDash CEO Xu ($2 million), crypto billionaire and Ripple CEO Chris Larsen ($2 million) and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison ($2 million). Among those who have donated to the California Business Roundtable are Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel ($3 million), Ring founder James Siminoff ($100,000) and Larsen ($750,000).
Both Mahan and Hilton have said publicly that they oppose the proposed billionaires tax, which is still in the signature-gathering phase to be placed on the November ballot. Campaign organizers said in a statement Wednesday that they have been “working day and night” to collect those signatures.
Brin and Schmidt did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
