The CEO of venture capital firm Social Capital, Chamath Palihapitiya, appeared to announce his intentions to run for California governor’s position in a Tweet on January 26. The post linked to his new website with a number of promises for the U.S. state, including massive tax cuts, an increase in teacher salaries, the end of student loans, and a handout for new births. The businessman has also joined efforts to force a recall vote for the current California governor Gavin Newsom.
It’s on. #RecallGavinNewsom https://t.co/r8Cwd4szrn
— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) January 26, 2021
Palihapitiya appears to be gearing up for the 2022 Gubernatorial race.
Social Capital CEO appears to be gearing up for the 2022 Gubernatorial race or potentially for a special election, though no specifics were provided beyond his intentions to get involved politically. According to the Business Insider report, the billionaire businessman has also joined efforts to force a recall vote for the current California governor Gavin Newsom, which would lead to a special election later in 2021. A growing number of Californians have been displeased with Newsom’s performance in the position, especially when it comes to inconsistent shutdowns and a slow-moving Covid-19 vaccine rollout.
“Let’s make California the global center of all tech & climate jobs.”
The former Facebook executive Palihapitiya was an early investor in Bitcoin, and he says he wants to maintain California’s status as a leading technology hub. He stated, “Let’s make California the global center of all tech & climate jobs by realigning our incentives rather than pushing them away.” Earlier, he said that he sees Bitcoin as insurance against economic uncertainty and that its price could soar to $200,000 over the next five to ten years. According to an April 2020 Forbes article, Palihapitiya bought Bitcoin back in 2013 when the price was around $80 per coin, and he claims that he owned around 5% of the entire Bitcoin supply at one point.