Garry Tan, the CEO of startup accelerator Y Combinator and a deep-pocketed donor to moderate politics in San Francisco, seemingly wished a slow death for seven supervisors last night in an apparent drunken online tirade.
“Fuck Chan Peskin Preston Walton Melgar Ronen Safai Chan as a label and motherfucking crew,” he wrote in a since-deleted post on X, formerly Twitter, to his 408,000 followers during the early morning hours of Saturday. “Die slow motherfuckers.”
When a user noted that Tan seemed drunk, he responded he was. “You are right,” he replied, “and motherfuck our enemies.”
Tan also posted a picture of a private liquor cabinet — containing two $350 bottles of Balvenie and Macallan whisky and two $32 bottles of Roederer Estate sparkling wine — above a plaque emblazoned with his name: “Garry Tan ‘SF Social Media Troll’ Twitter Menace.”
The named supervisors were none too pleased. Board President Aaron Peskin said the comment was “unacceptable violent speech that should not be condoned in our society from anyone, particularly a tech millionaire.”
“The thing that we’ve learned from Donald Trump is that violent words actually have a terrible outsized impact on angry people in our society,” he added.
District 11 Supervisor Ahsha Safaí said the comments were “shocking and scary” and that they “can’t be taken lightly.”
District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston, whom Tan has pledged $50,000 to unseat through a “Dump Dean” effort, called Tan “toxic and hateful” and asked whether Tan “wants me to die because I stop evictions, house homeless families, and tax the rich?”
“People should stop treating him like a serious person,” Preston said.
Other supervisors did just that when asked for comment.
“Don’t waste my time,” replied District 9 Supervisor Hillary Ronen. “Never heard of him,” said District 10 Supervisor Shamann Walton. “I wish him the best.”
Added District 1 Supervisor Connie Chan: “I will waive rent for living in his head.”
District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar said the comments were “rattling” as a mother. “I don’t know what I did to get on this guy’s list,” she said. “I’ve never met him.”
Tan became the CEO of Y Combinator last year after a long career as a tech venture capitalist and founder. Within San Francisco political circles, he is infamous for a short temper and a long block list — on X, he has blocked tens of thousands of politicians, journalists, activists and others, including those who have never interacted with him.
His position as the CEO of Y Combinator, one of the most successful tech incubators including Airbnb and Instacart, gives him an outsized following and prominence.
On Saturday morning, Tan apologized about the death wish in a subsequent post, saying he was simply referencing a lyric in Tupac Shakur’s “Hit ‘Em Up,” but that it “wasn’t a good call” regardless. The notorious diss track famously added fuel to the fire of East Coast-West Coast rap rivalry, leading to Shakur’s murder in a drive-by shooting just three months after its release.
“Sorry!” said Tan. Hours later, he followed up more fully, apologizing directly to the supervisors and writing “There is no place, no excuse and no reason for this type of speech.”
Tan is heavily involved in local moderate campaign giving: He gave more than $50,000 to a political action committee of GrowSF, a political pressure group, in 2022 and sits on the group’s board; he also gave at least $100,500 towards the 2022 campaign to recall the former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, and at least $20,000 to the 2021 school board recalls.
He is a staunch opponent of the city’s progressive faction and has convened political gatherings in his Mission District home featuring District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, supervisorial candidates Marjan Philhour and Trevor Chandler and an alphabet soup of moderate political groups.
Chandler, for his part, said it was “never okay to advocate violence,” while Philhour said “threats to one’s life or safety have no place in political discourse.” Jenkins did not respond for comment.
Tan has also attacked the city’s police commission, even while seemingly misunderstanding how it functions.
In the past, Tan has not been receptive to jokes about him: When commenting on San Francisco community organizer Julian La Rosa, who had said that “millionaires and landlords should be guillotined,” Tan seemed to take the jest deadly seriously.
“This is not a joke,” he posted. “This guy wants to guillotine people.”
“This kind of stuff should have zero place in San Francisco politics,” he later said. He has repeatedly gone back to La Rosa’s joke as evidence of violence among San Francisco’s left.
This is not the first time Tan’s posts have embroiled San Francisco supervisors in threats. In October, in response to a post from Tan lambasting Peskin, Elon Musk said: “Prison for Peskin.” Musk had earlier called for the jailing of Preston — twice.
Tan could not be reached for comment.
In a sane world, he would now lose any “pull” he might once have had. But here in the 21st Century . . .
He’s a real human being, using art references from my age demographic, and has helped San Francisco tremendously. If anything, I love him more now.
Good luck, hopefully, maybe, but probably not really, you’ll do something to help your community one day!
Those yimbys from Fremont go hard. Whenever I think of a real muthaphuckkin’ G, I think of G Tan.
Excellent reporting. Garry Tan is an ugly blemish on our city. I look forward to hearing he’s moving elsewhere.
thin skinned, tech softboi can dish it out, but can’t take it. What a surprise.
I think we need to move on from the idea someone who is wealthy should automatically have outsized political influence.
Tan is a classic case of someone who got lucky being in the right place at the right time and then brown nosed his way to becoming a VC/tech influencer type.
“jokes”
I love MissionLocal, but do better
Is this really news?
I would rather read coverage about how Dean Preston profits by voting down every housing project, because it makes the value of his family’s portfolio of rental housing more valuable. That seems like a more important story.
This is a drunk guy cursing on Twitter. He’s not a public official.
Except that it’s an oft-repeated lie that Preston votes down every housing project. 730 Stanyan, 650 Divisadero, Hayes-Octavia, and the DMV site are just four he’s promoted.
Death threats that SFPD takes seriously—now that’s a real problem!
Ha! How in the world does driving down property values drive yours up? Do you own property? I’m guessing you and another YIMBY that never worked in real estate?
While I won’t be wishing anyone dead, I do agree with Tan on not liking Peskin, Preston, Walton, and Chan.
There is nothing ‘moderate’ about this bozo. why are you going out of your way to soften this story?
This guy is not a moderate. He’s a deeply right-wing oligarch.
Preach!
I mean, to be fair, some of the folks he ranted about also have a reputation for getting a bit spicy when you put some whiskey in them.
He seems awful, but why is this news?
Alcohol and social media are a horrible mix. Avoid at all costs.
Tan is a rich jackass who has been very successful in tech. Yet like many who exhibit Dunning-Kruger behaviors, he assumes his success in business will translate to government. His self-importance and grand narcissism should be a glaring red flag for anyone involved in city politics, and I say this as someone who isn’t even a huge fan of the progressives.
Regardless of how serious his intent (or non-serious), there are enough whackjobs out there who take people like him at face value. The same people who sneak into the home of the former Speaker of the House and attack their husband with a hammer.
I doubt that the cop bootlicker rap poseur will quote NWA’s “Fuck Tha Police” next?
It takes VCs with billions to hold us back.
Connie Chan for the win.
Agreed! Love Supervisor Chan. I don’t agree with her on every issue, but she will tolerate differences of opinion with class and integrity. She’s answered every single query I’ve sent and done so much in-person with her constituents. She’s in public service because she loves this city. I wish she would run for mayor.
She went toe-to-toe with Doggtown Dro, I’ll give her that. Dude is like a freight train.
“Tan is heavily involved in local moderate campaign giving”
Stop it please. There is nothing “moderate” about an alt right libertarian tech baron who’s blocked half of the City on social media and are trying to buy local government.
These people are so un self aware, they wouldn’t even think to admit their wealth is from direct gov’t subsidies. Over $12 trillion loaned out at near zero interest to the big finance corps…..since the crash…..and at least another trillion during covid. Much of that hot money has flowed for over ten years to the VC sector. Imagine his outrage, if just $1 trillion was loaned at 1% to all cities and states to build off market affordable housing. SOCIALISM!!! they would cry…..
Garry Tan is hereby banned from my business. Course I doubt someone like that has enough bandwidth for a pet.
Obviously as a foreigner (Brit in France) I may be missing some nuances but the USA seems to be sliding back to its early 20th century condition as a nation run by criminal wealth. I feel especially sorry for the poor working and middle classes who are buying the Kool Aid. Not that we in Europe have anything to be superior about…
Enjoyed all the mail criticizing the term “moderate” to describe Garry Tan and the candidates he is contributing to and touting. Hopefully at least Mission Local will stop using that term to describe a movement that is viciously attacking our government institutions with recalls, misleading messages, and now, even personal attacks calling for violence against our legislators!
Joe,
In an otherwise good article, you use the word “moderate” three times to describe this unhinged oligarch’s political orientation. I’m sorry, but being ” a staunch opponent of the city’s progressive faction” makes one right-wing, not “moderate.” “Moderate” as a political descriptor is a nonsensical smokecreen used to make the rightwing agenda of our local billionaire class palatable to liberals and progressives. Regardless of where you stand on social issues, if you’re cool with monopolistic business practices, deregulation, poverty, increasing police powers, violations of civil liberties, demonizing teachers and civil servants, tax cuts for billionaires, genocide, and ethnic cleansing, you are not remotely “moderate”: you are right-wing, and this goes for the mayor, the DA, the governor, and any other Democrat who suckles wealth and power.
@two beers… moderate means not agreeing to the woke agenda that the progressives serve, while also not agreeing with the hate language from the right. Neither are right, moderates want common sense agenda. Policing, moving homeless off the streets, prosecuting crimes… ya know, the things Preston and others don’t agree with. Tan is right, delivery is wrong.
Luv your either/or thinking. no middle ground indeed./s
two beers,
I read once that the word ‘run’ had over twenty meanings in english.
‘Liberal’ used to have positive connotations.
It used to be unacceptable to write “Fuck you !!!” in a class pub like ML.
Shit changes.
Here’s some masterful use of alliteration …
See how the words literally echo the sounds of the ocen …
“A fair breez blew
the white foam flew
the furrow followed free
we were the first
that ever burst
into that silent see ”
ID poet and poem for a nickel ..
Go Niners !!
What does it mean that the professional progledytes have repeatedly reinforced the alt right framing that the right wing is “moderate?”
Do they not know that you can’t win if you self conceptualize in terms favorable to your opponents which grants them power to set your agenda?
I think that they do and are being paid to intercept and neutralize demands for change from below and to the left. They’ve done so much of this that they’ve participated in the framing of progressives out of political relevance. Now all the progressive nonprofiteers do is rage against residents.
Much ado about nothing. It’s not as if plenty of overzealous lefties haven’t used coarse language and veiled threats to push their agendas. And calling him “right wing” is akin to someone calling lefties commie nut jobs.
Good going with this lame hit piece.
You are comparing “overzealous lefties” to a wealthy CEO with a lot of political clout in San Francisco and a major donor to GrowSF?
I guess we can excuse everything that Donald Trump ever said because of what you think that overzealous lefties have said too.
Yeah but no.
What???
The guy wasn’t exactly calling for a jihad against the Bored of Stupidvisors. It was a silly overreaction, similar to what overzealous lefties do all the time. (But because they’re leftists it’s ok?) The perceived “power” of the individual has nothing to do with it.
It’s really a shame that instead of booty calling his pal
Elon so the two could have a special drunken Ketamine induced hate orgy, toxic and unhinged Garry Tan decided (yet again) to spew on social media. It’s more than a tad ironic that the Tanwad cannot fathom the distinct difference between what democratically elected public servants do and what ahole, bubble living Balvenie swilling Techbro billionaires do, which is not a lot. I don’t see creepy Garry Tan running for elected office and trying to solve our city’s problems. What a coward. What a baby.
He is a manbaby.
Hey Garry, it’s ok. We all get drunk now and then and indulge in our fantasies. But slow? WTF? You must be getting soft in your old age. And be realistic. Do you really care about Preston and Peskin and the Whole Sick Crew? Do you really care about a dying doom looped town run by a gang of homeless mentally ill, drug-addicted progressive thugs. There will never be enough police. Why waste your time? You are a very very important person, one of the best minds of the generation, and a talent that has yet to reach its maximum potential. Go to Austin Garry. No taxes. No progressives (fewer anyway, it’s the desert so watch out for scorpions, you know what I mean?). No drugs. It’s an entrepreneurial paradise. You don’t have to build a new one in Fairfield. Go Garry. Take your whole operation with you to some place where men like you can be paid proper tribute. Go to Austin. Let San Francisco drown in its own human feces. Replace your devilish fantasies with honest to God angelic fantasies. Take my word, you’ll feel a lot better in the morning. Go to Austin Garry. I’ll buy you a bus ticket.
Sorry Ms Chan, but you can’t “waive rent” for living in someone else’s head. That’s a nonsensical misconstruction. You may live rent-free in someone else’s head, but that’s because the person lets you, not because you “waive” it. Just my pedantic $0.02.