Ripple This crypto company made Chris Larsen a billionaire. Despite his claims that there is already an absurd amount of money involved in politics, Larsen still invested tens of millions of dollars in this year's mid-term elections to support clean energy and AI regulation, while also opposing the Republican Party.
Larsen has donated at least $22.5 million to federal candidates and super political action committees during this electoral cycle. This amount makes him one of the largest individual technology donors in this electoral cycle, and also places him among the increasingly rare left-leaning donors in an era dominated by generous, right-leaning tech giants such as Elon Musk and Marc Andreessen.
Forbes estimates that Larsen's net worth is $8.4 billion. He frankly acknowledges that there is a contradiction in using such vast wealth to influence politics. Recently, in a podcast hosted by Kara Swisher, he stated that the ruling in the Citizens United case, which unleashed a flood of corporate spending in elections, was a "huge mistake."
“There’s too much money in politics,” he said to Swisher, and claimed that he had to be generous in order to offset the large donations from oil companies and other opponents. (Larsen refused to be interviewed for this article.)
He said, "If you want to be involved in policy-making, you have to play this game. This is politics, not a pillow fight."
Larsen Favors 'People Who Solve Problems'
Larsen co-founded OpenCoin in 2012 with others, which later became Ripple. The goal of this company was to use blockchain technology to make cross-border payments faster and cheaper. He stepped down as CEO in 2016 but still serves as the Executive Chairman. The most recent stock repurchase by Ripple valued the company at approximately $50 billion.
In 2024, Larsen announced on X that he would donate XRP worth 10 million US dollars to support Kamala Harris' presidential campaign.
In a recent interview with KQED, Larsen described himself as more of a supporter of "problem solvers" than a traditional centrist, emphasizing his focus on everyday issues such as housing, energy, insurance costs, and education.
"We need to be there constantly, supporting those who will solve California's fundamental problems," he said, criticizing business leaders for only appearing in Sacramento when their narrow interests are affected.
Larsen has always argued that climate issues should not be the sole domain of the Democratic Party. He believes that supporters of clean energy should articulate their positions around the themes of lower costs and economic competitiveness.
"We need to reach out to our Republican friends and not demonize them," he said earlier this year. "There is still a lot of room for expansion in our alliance."
According to campaign records, Larsen donated $6 million to Tomorrow Coalition PAC earlier this year. This organization is a super political action committee that supports renewable energy.
Although he indicated to Swisher that he holds "indirect" interests in OpenAI and Anthropic, Larsen has also become a donor in the regulatory dispute over AI.
Larsen said that he got involved because AI and its allies attempted to intimidate politicians who proposed restrictive measures.
“The arms race represented by AI has completely gotten out of control,” he said to Swisher, “There’s only the accelerator, no brakes, and no steering wheel at all.”
He cited risks to employment, children, and public safety, and recent concerns about the dangers of AI have further intensified. Now, he advocates that the government should suspend all new AI infrastructure construction.
“Before we come up with any damn regulations, shut down all data centers,” he said in an interview during KQED, “this is an extremely dangerous moment.”
Even with donations of millions of dollars, the expenditures of Larsen are still no match for those who oppose the regulation of AI.
Records from the United States Federal Election Commission show that Larsen donated over 4 million dollars to a super political action committee established for Alex Bores, a member of the New York State House of Representatives. Bores was once an engineer for Palantir and jointly drafted AI safety legislation.
"Unfortunately, there are some people in the AI industry who truly want to take action against Alex because he dares to propose reasonable safeguards for this arms race, and we are unfortunately caught up in it now," Larsen said earlier this year regarding the Polit token issuance. "It is wrong to do so at this time, especially when we must begin to collectively take control of the situation to ensure that we do not rush towards a cliff."
Bores lost a close race, with President Greg Brockman and Andreessen Horowitz investing a large amount of money to defeat him.
"When opposition is so strong, money doesn't always guarantee results," Larsen said to Swisher.
