Tom Steyer has the sort of pedigree that’s been successful in American politics for generations.
The son of a lawyer, he was raised on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, attended boarding schools and then Yale and Stanford universities. He learned merger arbitrage at Goldman Sachs Group Inc. under the tutelage of future U.S. Treasury Secretary Robert Rubin, before starting his own hedge fund.
He grew San Francisco-based Farallon Capital Management into one of the world’s most successful investment managers, skillfully navigating the 1987 market crash and notching a steady average annual return of 17% for two decades. By the time Steyer stepped back in 2012 to devote himself to philanthropy and Democratic politics, the firm oversaw $20 billion. He’s now worth $3.1 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Steyer, 62, on Tuesday announced that he is jumping into the 2020 presidential contest and is prepared to spend an additional $100 million to win the White House. He spent an unprecedented $230 million through his political action committee to help beat Republicans in the last three election cycles. Last year, over the objection of leading Democrats, he unleashed a nationwide campaign calling for the impeachment of President Donald Trump.
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Some analysts questioned the likelihood of an ultra-wealthy candidate gaining much traction among Democrats at a time when income inequality is such a hot-button issue.
“There’s not much of a path to victory for a candidate identified with white-collar, Wall Street interests,” Josh Pacewicz, a Brown University sociology professor, said in an email interview.
The key for Steyer would be distinguishing himself in some other way, Pacewicz added. “Of course, the other question would be whether any new candidate could distinguish themselves in such a crowded field.”
Some of Steyer’s rivals for the Democratic nomination were more blunt.
“I like Tom. He is a good guy. He’s a friend of mine,” Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders said in an interview with MSNBC. “But I’m not a great fan of billionaires getting involved in the political process.”
Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts, who has eschewed contributions from wealthy donors, also weighed in Tuesday. “The Democratic primary should not be decided by billionaires, whether they are funding super-PACs or funding themselves,” she tweeted.