Matt Mahan's race for CA governor largely backed by Silicon Valley tech moguls, billionaires: report

SAN JOSE, Calif. -- Billionaires and tech moguls are spending mountains of cash to catapult San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan to the front of the race for California governor.

Our media partners at the San Francisco Standard reported that San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan has raised about $8.5 million dollars since launching his campaign for governor at the end of January.

Much of that funding has come from wealthy Silicon Valley executives and investors.

Recent campaign finance reports show Mahan has raised more than $2 million, though he has touted raising a total of $7 million so far on social media. Google co-founder Sergey Brin, Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale and YCombinator CEO Garry Tan are among the Silicon Valley elite who maxed out their legally-allowed contributions -- $78,400 each -- into Mahan's governor campaign in January.

David Baszucki, the billionaire CEO of the gaming platform Roblox, and his wife Jan gave a combined $156,800 to Mahan's campaign, records show. The support for a moderate, billionaire-friendly governor extends to Southern California, where businessman and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso contributed $78,400 to Mahan's campaign.

MORE: San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan joins crowded race for California governor

Mahan's campaign filings also weave a tangled web of tech mogul support linked to Peter Thiel, the billionaire conservative benefactor and co-founder of data analytics software company Palantir. Thiel-linked donors include Lonsdale, who later launched the Cicero Institute, a conservative policy think tank.

Another donor linked to Thiel is Matthew Grimm, who with his wife Kimberly gave a combined $20,000 to Mahan's campaign, records show. Grimm was an early Palantir hire and a principal at Mithril Capital, Thiel's growth fund. Grimm then co-founded Anduril Industries, a defense tech company that saw major backing from Thiel's Founders Fund. Grimm's Anduril co-founder Trae Stephens and his wife, who haven't donated to Mahan's campaign, founded ACTS 17, a Christian nonprofit that ministers to elites and funded Thiel's 2025 lectures on the antichrist.

XYZ Venture Capital founder Ross Fubini -- who donated $10,000 to Mahan's campaign -- was also an early investor in Anduril and more than 20 startups by Palantir employees.

A handful of other wealthy Californians -- some with ties to Thiel -- came together to secure Mahan a Super Bowl advertisement last weekend, highlighting his run for governor.

The financial support comes as Mahan has voiced opposition to a proposed billionaire tax in California over the early days of his statewide bid -- and billionaires are responding.

MORE: South Bay community offers mixed reactions to San Jose Mayor Matt Mahan's gubernatorial plans

Political experts say Mahan will need the money to build name recognition outside of the Bay Area.

He's also trying separate himself from the crowded field of Democrats by deliberately leaving President Donald Trump out of his campaign.

"A lot of the opponents in the race right now, who are consistently bringing up Trump, and saying that they would be fierce opponents of Trump. He still obviously isn't an ally of Trump at all, by any means. He has criticized him. He really is taking that more middle path right now. I think, strategically, it's because he's trying to pick up Independent voters and some Republican voters," said political analyst Gabe Greschler.

Mahan's war chest total puts him second in the fundraising race behind Tom Steyer, who has put more than $28 million of his own money into his campaign.

Mahan's opponents in the race include Congressman Eric Swalwell, former Congresswoman Katie Porter, billionaire Tom Steyer, former Attorney General Xavier Becerra, former Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, Riverside County Sheriff Chad Bianco, conservative pundit Steve Hilton, State Superintendent Tony Thurmond and former State Controller Betty Yee.

Whichever two candidates get the most votes in the June 2 primary will advance to the Nov. 3 election.

ABC7 Eyewitness News contributed to this report.