TheBadPlacePolitics | Billionaire candidate for California governor catching heat for past business interests, wealth by Seema Mehta, Nicole Nixon
Billionaire hedge fund founder turned environmental warrior Tom Steyer, a leading Democratic candidate for California governor, is facing mounting questions about how he earned his wealth — notably investments in private prisons that are now being used to house undocumented immigrants facing deportation. Some of the most vicious political attacks come from his Democratic rivals and Sacramento special interest groups as the June 2 primary election fast approaches, but Steyer has been dogged for years about his past, controversial business ventures and how they help fund his unbridled campaign spending. During a town hall in San Diego last week, activist Holly Taylor confronted him, screaming, “Tom, you’re not going to come to San Diego and ignore this detention center,” while holding signs with QR codes to help detainees at an Otay Mesa private prison that Steyer’s hedge fund backed, calling it a “concentration camp” where detainees “are drinking water out of a toilet.”
In 1986, Steyer co-founded Farallon Capital, which held shares valued at $89.1 million in the Corrections Corp. of America in 2005, according to SEC filings. That company, now known as CoreCivic, operates private prisons housing people detained by federal immigration agents, including the Otay Mesa facility. Steyer has repeatedly expressed regret, stating in 2019 that he “deeply regret[s] that Farallon made that investment” and personally ordered the stake sold because it “did not accord with my values then or now.” He said he left the hedge fund 14 years ago after realizing the business was taking him “to places I absolutely didn’t want to go,” describing it as a “big wake-up call” that led him to walk away from both the industry and a ton of money.
Despite his claims of reform, Steyer and his wife continue to receive significant income from the hedge fund, including millions in 2024 from investments, holdings, and complex transactions, as required by filings with the California Secretary of State’s office. His campaign says he has implemented guardrails to avoid profiting from morally disagreeable industries, donating any inadvertent gains to charity. Steyer has contributed nearly $112 million of his own money to his 2026 gubernatorial campaign, airing over 5,000 ads in the past month across California’s expensive media markets. While he has spent hundreds of millions on Democratic causes, especially climate change initiatives, critics argue his wealth — partly built on private prison and fossil fuel investments — undermines his progressive message, with rivals accusing him of building his campaign “on the backs of kids in cages.”
Billionaire candidate for California governor catching heat for past business interests, wealth
Hedge fund founder Tom Steyer, among the top Democrats running for governor who has spent more than $100 million of his money on his campaign, faces questions about how he made his wealth.