David Baszucki, the billionaire CEO of the gaming platform Roblox, and his wife Jan gave a combined $156,800 to Mahan\u2019s campaign, records show. The support for a moderate, billionaire-friendly governor extends to Southern California, where businessman and former Los Angeles mayoral candidate Rick Caruso contributed $78,400 to Mahan\u2019s campaign.<\/p>\n The financial support comes as Mahan has\u00a0voiced opposition to a proposed billionaire tax<\/a>\u00a0in California over the early days of his statewide bid \u2014 and billionaires are responding.<\/p>\n Adrian Rafizadeh,\u00a0Mahan\u2019s campaign manager<\/a>, said the mayor has united Californians against special interests.<\/p>\n \u201cCalifornians want hope that the problems that have been seen as intractable are solvable,\u201d Rafizadeh told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cTrust in city government has increased by nearly 40% since (Mahan) took office because he delivered, and because he was willing to stand up to special interests to get things done.\u201d<\/p>\n Mindy Romero, a political sociologist and founder of the Center for Inclusive Democracy, said the fundraising is substantial for a late-entry gubernatorial candidate \u2014 and a sign he\u2019s a candidate that can no longer be ignored.<\/p>\n \u201cIf he keeps this pace up, then he could potentially surpass \u2014 if he hasn\u2019t already \u2014 other candidates in a very short amount of time,\u201d Romero told San Jos\u00e9 Spotlight. \u201cDoes that make him frontrunner? We\u2019d have to see what the polls say. He does have a ways to go in terms of all Californians knowing who he is and his name. But having the funding he\u2019s already gotten is a really strong sign he\u2019s going to have a viable and very competitive candidacy.\u201d<\/p>\n Mahan\u2019s campaign filings also weave a tangled web of tech mogul support linked to Peter Thiel, the billionaire conservative benefactor and co-founder of data analytics software company Palantir. Thiel-linked donors include Lonsdale, who\u00a0later launched<\/a>\u00a0the Cicero Institute, a conservative policy think tank.<\/p>\n Another donor linked to Thiel is Matthew Grimm, who with his wife Kimberly gave a combined $20,000 to Mahan\u2019s campaign, records show. Grimm was an\u00a0early Palantir hire<\/a>\u00a0and a principal at Mithril Capital, Thiel\u2019s growth fund. Grimm then\u00a0co-founded Anduril Industries<\/a>, a defense tech company that\u00a0saw major backing from Thiel\u2019s Founders Fund<\/a>. Grimm\u2019s Anduril co-founder Trae Stephens and his wife, who haven\u2019t donated to Mahan\u2019s campaign, founded ACTS 17, a Christian nonprofit that ministers to elites and\u00a0funded Thiel\u2019s 2025 lectures on the antichrist<\/a>.<\/p>\n XYZ Venture Capital founder Ross Fubini \u2014 who donated $10,000 to Mahan\u2019s campaign \u2014 was also an\u00a0early investor in Anduril and more than 20 startups by Palantir employees<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/1771114569_978_LNM-20250616-SJSPOTLIGHTLOGO-01.jpg\")
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