Emily Shugerman

Peter Thiel Antichrist lecture: We asked guests what the hell it is We didn’t get a ticket to see Peter Thiel talk, but we did speak with attendees about what the hell happened.

Peter Thiel gets roasted to hell & back in this amazing @sfstandard.com story.

Pro Tip: Thiel should fire his entire staff—and all of his dumb friends—for allowing him to pursue this fanatical fiasco!

Great reporting by @eshugs.bsky.social and Garrett Leahy.

sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/p...

My favorite part of this story: OpenAI suggested that one of the groups opposing it was being funded by Elon Musk because the group's president lived in a house owned by Tesla Place, LLC.

So we called the owners.

OpenAI thinks its critics are funded by billionaires. Now it’s going after them The multibillion-dollar AI giant thinks it's critics are part of a billionaire conspiracy. We examined the evidence

NEW: OpenAI has been claiming for months now that the groups opposed to its for-profit transition are secretly backed by billionaires. We examined the evidence. sfstandard.com/2025/09/02/o...

America's billionaires promised to give away their money 15 years ago. How's that going? - The San Francisco Standard Only one local bigwig is even close to giving away half their wealth.

"Across nearly every example, there’s proof that the Giving Pledge is unfulfilled, unfulfillable, and not our ticket to a fairer, better future." sfstandard.com/2025/07/30/g...

This startup bro has a modest proposal for Trump: Give me part of Alameda - The San Francisco Standard James Ingallinera wants the president to hand over control of Alameda Point so he can build an AI utopia.

“The dumbest, most tech-brained garbage idea I’ve ever heard of.”

“Like a robot trying to conduct an orchestra...”

Don't miss @eshugs.bsky.social on the “broke startup founder” who wants Trump to declare a national security emergency and give him part of Alameda.

sfstandard.com/2025/06/16/f...

How politics and PR took over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Current and former staffers spill on what brought Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's personal philanthropy to abandon its progressive values

Incredible reporting here by @eshugs.bsky.social sfstandard.com/2025/06/09/c...

How politics and PR took over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Current and former staffers spill on what brought Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's personal philanthropy to abandon its progressive values

read the full story here: sfstandard.com/2025/06/09/c...

a former employee said working at CZI turned her off of billionaire philanthropy altogether

CZI recently hired its first-ever president. Tellingly, she previously served for 16 years at Meta.

CZI says its recent changes are not politically motivated, but staffers say leaders are clear they're trying to avoid being a target of the Trump administration

employees also described an obsessive focus on appearing bipartisan, even on issues like criminal justice reform

next up, employees describe a comms department that controlled what words they could use to describe their work — "social and emotional learning" was vetoed — and even what grants could go out

a thread of the biggest revelations from our new piece on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, starting with Priscilla Chan tearing up talking about watching "the peaceful transfer of power" at Trump's inauguration

How politics and PR took over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Current and former staffers spill on what brought Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's personal philanthropy to abandon its progressive values

The inside story of how the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative lost its way

featuring interviews with more than a insiders, taped meetings, and how Priscilla responded to attending the inauguration sfstandard.com/2025/06/09/c...

journalists therapists
🤝
"say more about that"

“They just said they were cutting back, but everybody knows what happened,” one grantee told me.

“Mark Zuckerberg needs something from the president of the United States. … These cuts are part of Mark Zuckerberg fighting for his No. 1, which is his bottom line.”

‘Devastating:’ Chan Zuckerberg Initiative slashes funding for more Bay Area non-profits “They are making sure to cut anything that would sound or even be construed as DEI-esque,” one former employee said.

Nonprofits are seeing their budgets slashed as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pivots hard away from "social advocacy"

“They are making sure to cut anything that would sound or even be construed as DEI-esque,” one former employee told us. sfstandard.com/2025/05/13/n...

‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds "It's a shock," one parent said. "It was our pride and joy to say our family went to the Primary School."

“It was highly publicized as a gift to the community,” she said. “They were already taking our homes because of Facebook, landlords pricing us out. Now they’re gonna take this away too. It seems unfair.”

via @eshugs.bsky.social & Garrett Leahy

‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds Families said they learned that the tech couple was moving its money elsewhere, forcing the Primary School to close, in a Zoom call last week.

‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds

Silicon Valley 'nepo baby' writes scathing novel about growing up rich - The San Francisco Standard In “Smokebirds,” Daniel Breyer sets out to skewer nepo babies. The irony is not lost on him.

The son of a Silicon Valley billionaire tells @sfstandard.com why he wrote a scathing novel about growing up rich — and why it definitely is not about his dad sfstandard.com/2025/04/07/j...

Once known as DJ Wizard, his latest trick is selling you a flying car Jim Dukhovny was a nightclub promoter. Now he’s building a viral futuristic vehicle he claims will ‘fix the world.'

Once known as DJ Wizard, his latest trick is selling you a flying car

Ezra Klein's groupies turn out in abundance for a night of hot wonk action Hundreds of San Franciscans swarmed the Sydney Goldstein Theater Wednesday to think deeply about housing policy and deregulation — and to thirst after Ezra Klein.

wrote about how everyone at the "abundance" book tour is horny for ezra klein sfstandard.com/2025/03/27/e...

One student said community members had been offering up their homes to students with nowhere else to go during spring break. “It’s crazy to say, but people are opening their doors to students who are concerned about this in a way that’s similar to Nazi Germany,” she said.

Democrat donors fume in San Francisco as party charts new path One Democratic advisor said wealthy donors are still thinking, “What the fuck did I burn all that money for?”

“This was such a gut punch of an election for so many Democratic donors,” one Democratic advisor told The Standard. “A number of the people I’ve talked to were just like, ‘What the fuck did I burn all that money for?’” sfstandard.com/2025/03/15/d...

Airbnb hosts are quitting the site over DOGE association Longtime Airbnb hosts say they want nothing to do with Airbnb now that co-founder Joe Gebbia is reportedly joining Elon Musk’s government initiative

Talked to Airbnb hosts who are fleeing the platform over co-founder Joe Gebbia reportedly joining DOGE.

“I don’t want to be a part of an organization that’s generating profit for someone that’s destroying the government and destroying my community,” one said.

sfstandard.com/2025/02/20/a...

particularly proud of my photography work on this one

SF’s biggest Trumper is selling dinner with the Donald for $1 million Crypto insiders who bought tickets to David Sack’s VIP reception get a gift with purchase.

Insiders who bought $1m tickets to David Sack’s VIP "Crypto Ball" reception get a gift with purchase—a guaranteed dinner with Donald Trump sfstandard.com/2025/01/17/t...

Marc Benioff’s embrace of Trump has Time staffers freaking out Time staffers are growing increasingly anxious about all of owner Marc Benioff's tweets about Donald Trump.

Wrote about how Time staffers are souring on their owner, Marc Benioff, as cozies up to Trump

As one asked: “How are we as journalists supposed to do our jobs when that is the look he’s putting out there?” sfstandard.com/2025/01/06/a...

thank you!!