San Francisco’s Ripple Labs, a private crypto company, donated $5 million for President Donald Trump’s ballroom, according to a recent investigation (opens in new tab) by The Washington Post.
The donation, part of $330 million in contributions to the controversial White House construction project, exposes a gap between Ripple’s executive chairman, Chris Larsen, a Democratic mega donor and local benefactor to causes related to public safety and moderate politicos, and its CEO, Brad Garlinghouse, who has taken a much more Trump-friendly approach.
A spokesperson for Larsen deferred questions, including whether Larsen was aware of the donation, to Ripple’s media department. The company did not respond to a request for comment.
Garlinghouse, second from right, visited the White House in August with other crypto executives. | Source: Alex Wong/Getty Images
It is understandable that Ripple’s political spending could be at odds with Larsen’s. As executive chairman, he doesn’t run the company’s day-to-day operations, and Ripple officials have reasons to want to stay in Trump’s good graces. Those include the recent failure (opens in new tab) of the Clarity Act, a cryptocurrency regulation bill, to advance in the Senate. That leaves crypto rules largely up to Trump’s SEC and Commodity Futures Trading Commission.
The Post noted that some companies that contributed to the ballroom have benefited from Trump administration decisions. Ripple Labs is among them: In 2020, under the first Trump administration, the Securities and Exchange Commission accused the company of selling unregistered securities. Last year, the Securities and Exchange Commission ended its case against the firm (opens in new tab), which had once threatened (opens in new tab) Ripple’s existence as a company.
Others who gave to the ballroom include Nvidia, Apple, and Meta.
Trump, initially a skeptic of cryptocurrency, has become an ally of the industry (opens in new tab) and even cofounded a crypto platform, sparking criticism of self-dealing. He has pardoned well-known figures in the crypto world, including Ross Ulbricht, founder of the illicit drug website Silk Road, and Changpeng Zhao, cofounder of Binance.
But Larsen, one of the most important power players in San Francisco politics and philanthropy, has remained firmly in the Democratic camp. Larsen has given $1.5 million to Mayor Daniel Lurie’s charter reform measures and $500,000 to a PAC supporting District 10 candidate Theo Ellington, the moderate pick in the race to represent the Bayview and surrounding neighborhoods. An ally of the mayor, Larsen has contributed to neighborhood improvement projects and the police department’s Real-Time Investigation Center.
He has also been a supporter of Democrats at the national level. In 2024, he donated more than $10 million to a PAC supporting Kamala Harris’ presidential bid. This year, Larsen gave $4 million to Sherrod Brown’s Ohio Senate race — notable since Ripple has given to a crypto PAC, Fairshake, which is seeking to defeat Brown, according to Bloomberg (opens in new tab). Larsen has also said he will support (opens in new tab) Gov. Gavin Newsom in a 2028 presidential run.
Larsen is an ally of the mayor and has given to Democratic priorities. | Source: Courtesy Ripple
In an interview with KQED released this week (opens in new tab), Larsen spoke on income inequality, the influence of money in politics, and expanding the Supreme Court, topics squarely within the realm of left-leaning politics.
“We have to get money out of politics. We can do that with the new Supreme Court when we get 13 of them and get rid of Citizens United,” Larsen said, referring to the high court’s 2010 decision that loosened campaign finance rules and has led to an explosion of political contributions. “We do have to do that, but it is the system we have today.”
Larsen also spoke critically of data centers. “Where I believe we are now is, shut down all the data centers until we get goddamn regulations,” he said. “This is insane.”
Larsen’s net worth is about $13 billion, according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index.
Meanwhile, Garlinghouse has taken a supportive posture toward the president. He took over as CEO after Larsen announced (opens in new tab) he would step down in 2016.
After the 2024 election, Garlinghouse congratulated (opens in new tab) Trump in a post on X, urging him to make appointments at the SEC, among other asks. Shortly before the inauguration, Garlinghouse posted a photo of himself dining with Trump, reportedly at Mar-a-Lago. In August, Trump hosted leaders of the crypto industry at the White House, including Garlinghouse, who was personally thanked by the president at the meeting.
“This president’s incredible commitment to innovation and leadership around digital assets in the U.S. has been profound,” Garlinghouse wrote (opens in new tab) on X. “The future is bright.”