67 Facts About Tom Steyer

Thomas Fahr Steyer is an American climate investor, businessman, hedge fund manager, philanthropist, environmentalist, and liberal activist.

Tom Steyer is the founder and former co-senior-managing-partner of Farallon Capital, and the co-founder of OneCalifornia Bank, which became Beneficial State Bank, an Oakland-based community development bank.

Tom Steyer served on the board of trustees at Stanford University from 2007 to 2017.

Tom Steyer sought the Democratic nomination for president in 2020, but dropped out of the race after the first four state contests, having spent more than $191 million on campaign advertising but failing to obtain any pledged delegates.

In 2021, Tom Steyer co-founded Galvanize Climate Solutions with Katie Hall, his longtime friend and business partner.

Tom Steyer's father was a non-practicing Jew, and his mother was Episcopalian.

Tom Steyer grew up on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, and attended the Buckley School and Phillips Exeter Academy.

Tom Steyer graduated as Valedictorian of his class at Phillips Exeter Academy.

At Yale, Tom Steyer was a member of Wolf's Head Society Tom Steyer received his MBA from Stanford Graduate School of Business, where he was an Arjay Miller Scholar.

Tom Steyer has served on the Stanford University board of trustees.

Tom Steyer worked at Goldman Sachs from 1983 to 1985 as an associate in the risk arbitrage division, where he was involved in mergers and acquisitions.

In January 1986, Tom Steyer founded Farallon Capital, a hedge fund firm headquartered in San Francisco.

Tom Steyer made his fortune running Farallon, which was managing $20 billion by the time he left the company.

Tom Steyer was known for taking high risks on distressed assets within volatile markets.

In October 2012, Tom Steyer stepped down from his position at Farallon in order to focus on advocating for alternative energy.

Tom Steyer decided to dispose of his carbon-polluting investments in 2012, although critics say he did not dispose of them quickly enough and noted that the lifespan of the facilities he funded would extend through 2030.

In 2016, some critics noted that Farallon had invested in private prisons while Tom Steyer was leading the hedge fund.

In 2011 Tom Steyer founded Advanced Energy Economy, an energy research and lobbying group with Hemant Teneja, an Indian-born American venture capitalist.

Around 2011, Tom Steyer joined the board of Next Generation, a nonprofit intending to tackle children's issues and the environment.

In 2013, Tom Steyer founded NextGen Climate, an environmental advocacy nonprofit and political action committee.

Tom Steyer raised money for Bill Bradley in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.

An early supporter of Hillary Clinton in 2008, Tom Steyer became one of Barack Obama's most prolific fundraisers.

Tom Steyer served as a delegate to the Democratic National Conventions in 2004 and 2008.

Tom Steyer has been a member of the Hamilton Project and has been involved with the Democracy Alliance, a network of progressive donors whose membership in the group requires them to donate at least $200,000 a year to recommended organizations.

In January 2013, rumors briefly arose that Tom Steyer might be named as a replacement for Energy Secretary Steven Chu.

In 2010, Tom Steyer joined the former Secretary of State, San Francisco-based George Shultz, to co-chair the No on Prop.

Tom Steyer donated $5 million to the campaign, which defeated Proposition 23.

In 2012, Tom Steyer was the leading sponsor of Proposition 39 on the ballot in California.

Tom Steyer contributed $29.6 million, saying that he could wait no longer for the change.

Some critics called the initiative an ineffective jobs stimulus, while Tom Steyer labeled it a success for closing a corporate loophole.

In 2012, Tom Steyer hosted a fundraiser at his home for President Obama.

Tom Steyer was critical of Obama's decision to keep an energy initiative as a low priority.

Tom Steyer said that Republican presidential nominee Mitt Romney would take no action to reduce US dependence on fossil fuels; rather, he said, Romney would increase it.

In February 2013, Tom Steyer spoke at an anti-Keystone XL Pipeline rally on the Washington Mall organized by Bill McKibben and attended by tens of thousands.

McKibben asked Tom Steyer to join the protest by tying himself to the White House gate and getting arrested, but Tom Steyer was dissuaded by his brother Jim.

In 2013, Tom Steyer founded NextGen Climate, an environmental advocacy nonprofit and political action committee.

In 2014, Tom Steyer funded political campaigns to advocate for the election of at least nine candidates and to influence climate change policy through NextGen Climate.

Reportedly, Tom Steyer spent $1.8 million attacking Lynch, including money for a plane Tom Steyer paid to fly over a Boston Red Sox game with a banner that read, "Steve Lynch for Oil Evil Empire".

Tom Steyer supported Democrat Terry McAuliffe's successful 2013 campaign for governor of Virginia through his NextGen Climate Action, contributing funds for paid media and get-out-the-vote efforts.

Tom Steyer supported Democrats in Senate races in Iowa, Colorado, New Hampshire, and Michigan and in Gubernatorial races in Pennsylvania, Maine, and Florida.

Tom Steyer cited Florida's pivotal role in the 2016 presidential election and its geographic position, which makes it highly vulnerable to climate change, as reasons for his focus on the state.

In June 2014, Tom Steyer said he planned to get involved in California legislative races, targeting three to four races in each house of the Legislature in a bid to affect climate change policy.

The Guardian reported in 2014 that Tom Steyer had become the single largest donor in American politics and is the leading advocate of environmental issues.

Tom Steyer raised money for Hillary Clinton, and he hosted a fundraiser on her behalf at his Burlingame home.

Tom Steyer contributed $87,057,853 in funds exclusively to Democratic Party candidates during the 2016 election cycle.

The Need to Impeach campaign led to speculation that Tom Steyer was planning a run for California governor or California senator in 2018, although he did not do so.

In March 2018, Tom Steyer launched a 30-city town hall tour and, going into the fall election season, the campaign had amassed close to 6 million petition signatures.

Tom Steyer stepped down from his role as president of Need to Impeach in July 2019 when he announced his presidential campaign.

Tom Steyer said Need to Impeach would continue under new leadership and named Nathaly Arriola as the new executive director.

Tom Steyer considered running for governor of California in 2018 but in January 2018 announced that he would not.

Tom Steyer came in seventh place in the Iowa caucuses and sixth place in the New Hampshire primaries, out of 11 active candidates, receiving no delegates.

Tom Steyer earned no national pledged delegates from Iowa, New Hampshire, or Nevada.

Tom Steyer spent a great deal of time and money in South Carolina, far outspending other candidates.

Tom Steyer spent over $253 million, with all but a little over $3.5 million coming from his personal funds.

In 2023, Tom Steyer held a fundraiser for President Joe Biden's re-election bid for the White House in his San Francisco home.

Tom Steyer was criticized by some Republicans for attacking the pipeline even though he held some investments in the fossil-fuel industry.

Tom Steyer promised to fully unload his holdings there within a year.

In September 2013, Tom Steyer appeared in a series of commercials in opposition to the proposed pipeline.

In October 2013, Tom Steyer launched a bipartisan initiative to combat climate change along with then-New York City mayor Michael Bloomberg and former Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson.

In 2015, Tom Steyer signed on to the Bill Gates Breakthrough Energy Coalition.

Tom Steyer has said that he opposes Citizens United v FEC, the 2010 Supreme Court decision allowing unlimited corporate donations to super PACs.

Tom Steyer said that upper-income people in the United States had done "disproportionately well" at the expense of working families.

Tom Steyer called one version of a 2017 Republican tax reform proposal a "thinly veiled reverse Robin Hood".

In November 2018, in a full-page USA Today ad, Tom Steyer outlined five non-partisan issue areas on which he said the Democrats should campaign, and which "represent essential freedoms that should be guaranteed for all Americans": voting rights protections, a clean environment, a complete education, a living wage, and good health.

Tom Steyer has received a number of awards and honors for his environmental work, including the Phillip Burton Public Service Award of Consumer Watchdog, the Environmental Leadership Award of the California League of Conservation Voters, the Environmental Achievement Award of the Environmental Law Institute, and the Land Conservation Award of the Open Space Institute.

Tom Steyer has stated that during this time he became much more interested in religion and theology.

In 2018, Tom Steyer received two suspicious packages from convicted mail bomber Cesar Sayoc.