Tom Steyer wants Californians to see the human beyond his billions. Will they? | Opinion
The label of billionaire has trailed Tom Steyer for decades, shaped by his 27 years at the helm of a hedge fund that he founded and made him rich. Steyer is determined to be recognized as far more than just another wealthy figure. In December, he released a playful campaign ad where he didn’t speak, wore a comfy Christmas sweater, smiled with his eyes as well as his lips, and wooed a voter with his ideas written on signs in a parody of the film, “Love, Actually.”
Steyer wants to be understood as a complex, driven and nuanced leader for California who is also, well, human.
“I feel like I’m a three-dimensional person,” Steyer said in an interview. “If people take 15 minutes to listen to me, they can decide whether or not I’m full of bologna, but I’m not full of baloney. I am (running for California governor) for the reasons I say, and you can’t show me somebody else who spent 15 years doing stuff for California because he was trying to make an impact.”
Steyer’s campaign for California’s highest office has ignited with a focus on affordability—a calculated pivot from his years as a climate crusader. His criticism of the state’s utility system gained traction after a major power outage in San Francisco left thousands in the dark, exposing just how broken the status quo remains.
“The (California Public Utilities Commission) has been doing a terrible job, and we need them to understand that this system is incentivized towards the wrong things, and we need to incentivize it towards the right things. Secondly, competition. If you said to me, you have 115-year-old monopoly, and it charges very high prices, and it produces very bad service. Are you surprised?”
A three-dimensional billionaire
The current political era is dominated by wealthy figures like Elon Musk, whose influence often lacks empathy. It’s a welcome change to see Steyer striving to transcend his material wealth.
“I come from a family of people who are focused on education, but not focused on money,” Steyer said in an interview. “My father was the least sophisticated financial person in the history of the planet. He came from the Great Depression, and the only person he ever borrowed money from was his mother, because he thought she wouldn’t throw him out.”
Steyer said it was his mother, Marnie, who reminded him that true worth was not accumulating wealth.
“When I was working, people would ask my mom, what does Tom do? (She would say) ‘He’s in the money business,’ but it was not a compliment,” Steyer recalls with a chuckle. “Her point was serious too, which was, ‘Tom we’re expecting more. Honestly, this is not success to us. Success is doing something that’s contributing to society, and so we’re expecting more from you.’”
“I felt like I need to have a positive impact on society. I don’t feel like my net worth is my self-worth,” Steyer said.
That push led Steyer to walk away from his lucrative Farallon Capital Management in 2012 and direct his considerable influence in the political arena.
His first experience in politics came in 2010, when he funded the opposition to Proposition 23, which sought to suspend California’s ambitious greenhouse emissions standards. Steyer experienced a kind of epiphany when Prop. 23 was defeated by a wide margin by state voters.
“I thought, boom. It turns out, if you’re willing to take on these bozos, you know, if you’re willing to take on the special interests, you can make a contribution,” Steyer said.
California needs a contributor
For the past two years, Gov. Gavin Newsom has prioritized national ambitions over the daily struggles of Californians. Steyer is promising to help build a California where working families aren’t forced out by skyrocketing costs.
But on top of selling his humanity, Steyer must also convince Californians that he has the political and communication skills to run the most complex state in the union. Up until now, he’s been a billionaire with the resources to fund his campaigns.
Ultimately, Steyer faces the hard reality that California’s toughest problems won’t be solved by ideals or resources alone—they’ll demand leadership that can bridge the gap between ambition and real, lasting change.
This story was originally published January 12, 2026 at 11:39 AM.
