California gubernatorial candidate Tom Steyer signaled support for the university to divest its indirect multi-billion-dollar investments in weapons manufacturing companies at a press conference in Oakland on Tuesday.
Steyer acknowledged that the investment fund needs to make “good returns,” but said he believed investments in the “electric revolution” and medical companies could give similar returns.
Steyer told The Daily Californian he believes the university should not invest in war.
“(The) war (in Iran) is illegal. What we’re doing is wrong. What we’re doing is incredibly stupid. Should we be investing in the people who are making that work happen? We absolutely should not,” Steyer said. “When we think about how we’re going to proceed, broadly, including how we think about investment, the real question we should be asking ourselves is, what are we supporting, and what are our values?”
The governor of California has direct influence over the UC Board of Regents by directly appointing 18 of the 26 regents to 12-year terms and sitting directly on the board as a regent.
According to University of California Office of the President spokesperson Omar Rodriguez, the University of California Office of the Chief Investment Officer manages the UC’s investment assets with fiduciary independence.
“(UC Investments) decisions are made under a clear fiduciary mandate to act solely in the best interests of beneficiaries—students, faculty, and retirees,” Rodriguez said in an email. “UC investment decisions are not directed by the UC Board of Regents or the UC Office of the President.”
The UC Regents create guidelines for the Chief Investment Officer to follow but do not oversee individual investment decisions.
Steyer’s former hedge fund, Fallaron Capital, previously invested millions into private prisons, which has been a consistent attack line by his Democratic opponents. Steyer has said he regrets the investments, and Steyer and Fallaron divested from private prisons in 2006.
“Do I think that the state of California should be supporting wars that are illegal and failures? I don’t think so,” Steyer said. “We need a different vision of what we’re doing. We need a positive vision of what California stands for.”
The UC Board of Regents Investments Committee clarified its investment portfolio in 2024 after student calls to divest during the spring 2024 pro-Palestinian encampment protests. Jagdeep Singh Bachher, UC chief investments officer and vice president of investments, said in the 2024 meeting that UC indirectly held $3.3 billion in holdings within the weapons manufacturing industry through the S&P 500 and other index funds.
In March 2026, Bachher said comprehensive divestment would be a “very expensive decision.” He said he could make the argument that the UC system should sell everything it owns in the United States because it is initiating wars around the world.
No student tuition and fees are used for investment purposes.