Startup founder behind San Francisco pro-billionaire rally

There are about 214 billionaires that reside in California, but none of them attended the March for Billionaire’s rally held this week to honor their hard work.

The March for Billionaire rally, organized by Derik Kauffman, a 26-year-old tech founder, surfaced online last week as a movement to oppose a billionaire tax proposal that could head to the ballots this November. The rally on Saturday morning garnered a lot of attention from passersby and journalists who came to observe a group of political theater trollsters and barely a dozen earnest pro-billionaire supporters at Alta Plaza Park in Pacific Heights. Kaufman, however, said there were at least 20 protestors of the wealth tax at the rally.

“There is risk,” Kauffman told SFGATE about coming out in public support for billionaires. “I was probably the most hated guy on [Bluesky] for 16 hours.” But, he said, staying anonymous would not be practical in order to get his message across. That message, he said, is that the wealth tax proposal is “poorly designed” and will drive big names from the state. He arrived Saturday morning in a blue button up, tucked into khakis, with a sign that read: “Larry and Sergey Gone. Who’s next?”

One of the state’s largest labor unions crafted a proposed wealth tax, which would be a one-time 5% income tax on the state’s wealthiest residents. The proposal is in the signature collection phase and if it garners 874,641 signatures, as required by state law, it qualifies for the ballot this November.

The proponents defend a one-time 5% tax on every billionaire’s income. The money would as a result help make up for the lost federal dollars, which typically go towards public education and health care, that was slashed from Congress’ Big Beautiful Bill last year.

The park is in the heart of the posh neighborhood with a median home price of $2 million. The neighborhood is central to San Francisco and home to what’s been dubbed “Billionaire’s Row,” after the number of high net-worth individuals who live there, including Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, and PayPal executives David Sacks and Peter Thiel.

The concept of the pro-billionaire rally first launched on social media eight days ago.

“Billionaires get a bad rap. But most of them make our lives much better,” the March for Billionaire’s group, then an anonymous page, posted to Bluesky. That was quickly met with animosity from nearly 100 users reacting with frustration and questioning if it was satire.

But, come Saturday morning, spectators who came, mostly journalists, discovered that the rally was earnest, but the turnout wasn’t as massive as expected. Kauffman said he anticipated a few dozen attendees, but was not taking official RSVPs. He said he moved to San Francisco a year ago and founded an artificial intelligence company called RunRL, a platform that uses learning algorithms.

Kauffman, from that account, continued to post that billionaires are not the reason for poverty, even crediting founders Bill Gates and Warren Buffet for their philanthropy, as examples of using their riches for the betterment of society.

Even Gov. Gavin Newsom has come out in vehement opposition to the wealth tax. Newsom has warned California would see a mass exodus of the state’s richest and in turn, a loss in tax revenue that funds public programs like public education.

The first to arrive at the rally were a few individuals parodying the rally. They came dressed in suits and gowns, drinking water from champagne flutes, all a part of a theatrical gesture to mock the pro-billionaire rally. 

Among those in costume who participated in the parody rally was L.M. Bogad, a performance artist and professor of political performance at UC Davis. He started a satirical group in the early 2000s called Billionaires for Bush, a street theater political organization, and said he continues to show up in costume when big political moments like this happen.

Other trollsters included a person who said he was there for the “hundredaires,” which he clarified as those who have a few hundred dollars to their names. Also in attendance was a woman in a chef costume, holding a chef puppet that had “Chef Bourgeousie” written on the apron.

Together, nearly three dozen people, including both the trolls and the organizers, walked from Alta Plaza towards Civic Center at around noon. There were a fair share of journalists from local and national outlets present and at one point, seemingly outnumbering the actual participants. 

The parody groups were shouting, “Rich lives matter,” and expletives around “F—k the poor,” while the organizers of the event over a megaphone chanted, “Build more housing,” and “Thank you billionaires.” 

Kauffman and just under a dozen other participants of the rally event arrived at Alta Plaza Park in Pacific Heights at 11 a.m. on Saturday and unveiled a twenty-foot banner that reads: ”Billionaire’s Build Prosperity…Keep them in California!”

One 20-year-old, who asked to remain anonymous, told SFGATE he was able to find humor in those who showed up to mock the group. 

“All of us are people here,” he said, as he was holding the large banner. “I think that most of us have common ground. I believe I have common ground with everyone here.”

Flo, a San Francisco-based programmer, arrived holding a “billionaires build the future” sign. They handed SFGATE a printed out speech that defended billionaire founders, crediting Jeff Bezos, the Amazon founder, for generating an “engine that can get you things you want.” 

Another one of the pro-billionaire marchers was holding a sign that read “We love you Jeffrey Bezos.” They said they are coming from a pro-business perspective and work in tech, and admitted to aspiring to be a billionaire. 

“I believe that ambition and wealth are things to aspire to. Everyone in America should aspire to be a powerful, wealthy, well off individual,” they said. “This doesn't mean exploitation, it just means hard work.”

Editor's note: This story was corrected at 12:50 p.m., Feb. 8, to correct  U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna's stance on the wealth tax.