Billionaire Bitcoin Bull, Chamath Palihapitiya, Runs for California Governor

Billionaire investor Chamath Palihapitiya could be running to become the governor of California.

There has been no official announcement, but his tweets that say “#RecallGavinNewsom” and website with “Chamath for California Governor” states it clearly.

With “#RecallGavinNewsom,” he has joined the movement sweeping Silicon Valley, Rescue California, which would lead to a special election later in 2021. The petition has reached over 1.2 million signatures.

A Sri Lankan-born Canadian American, Palihapitiya, is the founder and CEO of Social Capital. He was an early senior executive at Facebook and is a minority stakeholder of the Golden State Warriors.

Palihapitiya is a vocal Bitcoin proponent who has been holding on to his BTC since 2013 and calls it a “schmuck insurance” and gold 2.0.

“When BTC gets to $150k, I will buy The Hamptons and convert it to sleepaway camps for kids, working farms, and low-cost housing,” he tweeted last month.

On his campaign website, he calls on “Let's Move California Forward” while promising to cut taxes to 0% from 16% and drive growth. His main focus is education and climate change. For education, he proposes a minimum of $70,000 salary for teachers, no student loans, and free school vouchers because “Education is a human right.”

Palihapitiya’s campaign website further talks of $2,000 for every new child born in the state to encourage more people to settle down & live here so as to ensure that California remains “the technological hub of the world.” He is also planning to make it the global center for tech & climate jobs “by realigning our incentives rather than pushing them away.”

“California is a mess — it's too expensive, our teachers are underpaid, and our schools aren't good enough,” reads Palihapitiya’s website.