Meet the donors of the Silicon Valley supporting the redistribution of California

In the latest sign that the Titans of Silicon Valley are increasingly launching their weight behind political problems, the co-founder of Netflix, Reed Hastings, contributed to 2 million dollars to support the campaign of proposal 50 of Governor Gavin Newsom.

This decision is the last underlint how the leaders of Silicon Valley have increasingly influenced the influence in Californian politics and beyond.

The measurement of the November election would remove the independent redistribution commission of California, the dismissal of the card drawing authority to the state legislature, where the Democrats firmly hold majorities.

Donors argue that the change would counterbalance the gerrymanders led by the GOP in states like Texas and Florida, potentially counting democrats of half a dozen seats at the American house in 2026.

Hastings’ donation highlights the growing role of technological fortunes in political fighting. The co-founder of Netflix has long been a high-level donor, previously giving $ 3 million to the defense of Newsom recall in 2021. He also financed reform initiatives on a state level and has greatly donated to national democratic causes.

Other characters from Silicon Valley join him

Ron Conway, one of the most prolific prolient investors in the valley, promised support, and Paul Graham from Y Combinator gave $ 500,000. Their involvement echoes a broader trend: technological leaders are increasingly channeling personal wealth to shape policies, often through voting measures where their dollars can have an excessive impact.

California has been a test field for such efforts.

In 2020, Uber, Lyft and Doordash collectively spent more than $ 200 million to adopt proposal 22, making the return of state working rules that threatened their commercial models. More recently, the venture capital and Crypto leaders have funded campaigns to withstand new taxes and regulations.

Technological money takes place more and more in the policy

The model is not limited to California. At the national level, technology money has become a force majeure in politics.

Sam Bankman Fried, the former billionaire in disgrace, spent more than $ 40 million on congress races in 2022 before his collapse. Certain estimates have put its total political contributions to more than $ 70 million over 18 months, reflecting its ambition to exert an influence at the federal level

Amazon, Microsoft and Alphabet are among the best business expenses to lobby in Washington. These interventions have helped shape the debates ranging from antitrust reform to AI regulation.

According to Axios, in the first quarter of 2025, Meta spent $ 8 million in lobbying, followed from Amazon to $ 4.3 million, with Microsoft at $ 2.4 million. Opensecrets reports that Amazon’s total federal lobbying for 2025 (first half) at $ 9.35 million and alphabet (Google parent) at around 7.81 million dollars

For criticisms, the proposal 50 represents another body of rich donors of technologies tilting the political playground.

The adversaries, including the donor of the GOP, Charles Munger Jr., who have already committed $ 10 million to defeat him, saying that the dismantling of independent voters of the Rediscuss system in 2008 is a bare takeover. The former president of the chamber, Kevin McCarthy, also jumped into the fray, throwing measure as an effort by the Democrats and their allies of Silicon Valley to “fake the map”.

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What makes the fight particularly important is its national impact.

California, with 52 seats at home, remains the greatest price for redistribution in the congress. Even a small change in the district lines could determine the control of the room in 2026. For democrats, align with the rich technological donors offers a means of monitoring the pace of republican fundraising networks that have long used redistribution to their advantage.

The question of knowing if Hastings and its peers can influence voters remain uncertain. The first surveys show that the Californians separated on proposal 50, reflecting skepticism as to giving legislators more control. But the torrent of Silicon Valley Money guarantees that in November, the voters will hear arguments on both sides in almost constant volume.

In case of success, the campaign would constitute more Silicon Valley not only as an economic power, but also as a decisive political actor, with ambitions that extend far beyond the borders of California.