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How Daniel Lurie’s family millions launched him to the front of the mayor’s race

“If I was Breed, I would be worried," a political observer told The Standard.

A man in a white shirt stands outside East West Bank, featuring traditional architectural elements with red pillars and a green roof. Another person is in the background.
Mayoral candidate Daniel Lurie visits merchants while campaigning in Chinatown in San Francisco. | Source: Philip Pacheco for The Standard
Politics

How Daniel Lurie’s family millions launched him to the front of the mayor’s race

“If I was Breed, I would be worried," a political observer told The Standard.

Daniel Lurie is running one of the most personally expensive mayoral campaigns in American history. 

And it appears to be working.

On a per-capita basis, only two candidates have ever outspent him: Rick Caruso, who unsuccessfully ran for mayor of Los Angeles, and Michael Bloomberg, who served three terms as mayor of New York City. Both of them are billionaires whose wealth is largely self-made and who campaigned, at least in part, on their business acumen and ability to run the large organizations they built.

Lurie, in contrast, is an heir whose only significant work experience is in philanthropy. The wealth propelling his campaign is family money from the Levi Strauss jean empire, a product of California’s gold rush. In addition to the more than $8 million Lurie has contributed to his own campaign, his mother, Mimi Haas, has supported his candidacy through a $1 million independent committee contribution. His brother, Ari Lurie, gave $150,000 to the same committee. 

A review of a family will, financial filings, and other public records by The Standard offers a further look at a family fortune that transformed a little-known heir and nonprofit founder into a political juggernaut who could soon occupy the mayor’s office.

A man in a white shirt stands in front of a storefront with sushi and open signs. The window displays a menu and decorative tree with lights.
Mayor candidate Daniel Lurie has spent over $8 million of his own money in the mayor's race, and is currently leading in the polls. | Source: Philip Pacheco for The Standard

A poll released Monday by the Lurie campaign shows him at the head of the pack in first- and second-place votes and beating Mayor London Breed 55% to 45% in a simulated ranked-choice contest.  

“If I was Breed, I would be worried,” said Patrick Murphy, a University of San Francisco politics professor, about Lurie’s chances of winning. “I do think it is down to the two of them.”

‘Generous provisions’

The story of Lurie’s family is well documented. Lurie’s father, Rabbi Brian Lurie, separated from his mother when he was young. Lurie’s mother remarried Peter Haas, the great-grandnephew of Levi Strauss. 

Lesser known is what Haas left behind for his stepson when he died in 2005 at the age of 86. Haas’ will, a previously unreported record unearthed by The Standard, shows he set aside $1 million for both Lurie and his brother, Ari, in a trust. The document pegs Haas’ estate at $133 million.

“It doesn’t feel like you earned it when you buy it.”

Philanthropist Susie Buell about Daniel Lurie’s bid for mayor

The will suggests that Lurie’s mother would eventually beef up the relatively small sum. “I have not provided more for Ari and Daniel because I know their mother is making generous provisions for them in her will,” the document states.

The will also named Lurie as one of the beneficiaries of a nearly 10,000-square-foot, 10-bedroom mansion in Pacific Heights that Zillow estimates is worth $8.1 million today. Lurie and his brother also received autographed photographs of baseball stars Ted Williams and Joe DiMaggio, along with a baseball booklet by artist Charles Hobson. 

A woman stands in front of a lush green backdrop with "MoMA" in large white letters, surrounded by yellow flowers and smaller text. She wears a grey dress.
Mimi Haas, Daniel Lurie's mother, at an event in New York City in 2018. Haas has given $1 million toward a committee supporting her son for mayor. | Source: Andrew Toth/Getty Images

Other records, including a required financial disclosure form filed by Lurie in June, show the candidate with a trust in his name chock-full of investments. The record only provides a dollar range instead of an exact amount — with $1 million representing the highest reported amount. It shows Lurie with over $1 million in the San Francisco 49ers, a limited partnership named after his mother and stepfather, and an SF-based investment fund. 

The trust also shows Lurie has over $1 million of Levi’s stock, which could be a significant source of the candidate’s wealth. A separate document from his wife, Becca Prowda, who works as chief of protocol for the governor’s office in a fundraising role, shows the couple’s stake in a limited partnership was worth as much as $33 million in 2019.

The family resides in a 6,540-square-foot, nine-bedroom house in Pacific Heights that Zillow estimates is worth almost $16 million. Three vehicles are registered to the address, including a 2022 Tesla, 2022 Rivian, and 2020 Mercedes. Lurie’s campaign told The Standard after publication that he does not own the Mercedes anymore.

Mimi Haas helps her son

Lurie’s mother, Mimi, inherited much of the Levi’s fortune after her husband died. When Levi’s filed to go public on the New York Stock Exchange in 2019, filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission showed Lurie’s mother with a nearly 17% stake in the company, which Forbes estimated was worth about $1 billion. Haas sold around a tenth of her Levi’s stake in 2019, netting her $102 million.

SEC disclosures — required by major company shareholders — show Haas collectively sold about $31 million of Levi’s stock in 2020 and 2021. In 2021, Forbes estimated her net worth to be $1.4 billion. An April 2024 filing by the company shows Haas with 14.2% ownership, which would place her stock holdings at approximately $907 million this past spring.

Haas lives at the family’s Pacific Heights mansion and has a range of assets including a Martha’s Vineyard property worth over $20 million, a ninth-floor apartment in Manhattan she purchased for $12.5 million, and an extensive art collection that includes acclaimed works by Gerhard Richter and Sigmar Polke

Two men in suits are laughing and embracing at a lively indoor event, surrounded by people and tables adorned with colorful flowers and candles.
Daniel Lurie and former Mayor Willie Brown attend an event together in San Francisco this year. | Source: Courtesy

Through the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund, the family has donated large amounts of money to organizations across the Bay Area. Haas explained in a 2018 interview that when the foundation was small, she and her husband “were giving to all the San Francisco institutions, whether they were cultural or universities.” When Peter Haas’ mother passed and her estate enlarged the fund, Haas explained in the interview, they decided to focus on early childhood education. 

According to campaign filings, Haas has a long history of giving to political candidates and causes dating back to the late 1990s. This includes a $133,000 donation in 2023 to Neighbors for a Better San Francisco Advocacy, which helped oust former District Attorney Chesa Boudin and fueled the recall of multiple school board members.

“If someone is spending a lot of money, it’s because they want you to hear them and know who they are.”

Philanthropist Adam Swig about Lurie’s self-funding

She has also given to Supervisors Catherine Stefani, Matt Dorsey, Joel Engardio, and Rafael Mandelman as well as District Attorney Brooke Jenkins. This year, she gave $75,000 to the anti-Trump Republican Accountability PAC. 

The most recent IRS filings from 2022 show the Mimi and Peter Haas Fund issued over $12 million in grants to early childhood programs, schools, museums, and religious causes. Haas’ fund was consistently among the top donors to Tipping Point Community — the grant-making nonprofit Lurie founded in 2005 — according to impact reports from 2007 to 2023. The reports indicate his mother’s philanthropy is responsible for at least $17.5 million of Tipping Point’s funding over the years, though the true number could be more.

A woman in a black dress and a man in a suit with a purple tie stand smiling at an indoor event, surrounded by other people.
Vice President Kamala Harris and Daniel Lurie attend an event in San Francisco together in 2013. | Source: Courtesy

Through Tipping Point, Lurie moved in elite philanthropic and political circles, attending galas alongside Vice President Kamala Harris; former Mayors Willie Brown, Gavin Newsom, and Ed Lee; Giants CEO Larry Baer; former Apple designer Jony Ive; and former UC President Janet Napolitano. Lee tapped Lurie to lead the bid committee for Super Bowl 50, which was held at Levi’s Stadium in Santa Clara in 2016. 

Haas did not respond to a list of questions about her finances and involvement in her son’s bid for mayor. 

Haas’ $1 million donation to the independent committee supporting her son, “Believe in SF, Lurie for Mayor 2024,” may have been the largest to a committee in city history. The pro-Lurie group has raised $6.5 million in total from donors, including investor Jonathan Gans and Jan Koum, a co-founder of WhatsApp and a major donor to Donald Trump’s campaign for president. Helen Schwab, wife of ultra-wealthy investor Charles R. Schwab and a consistent Tipping Point donor, threw $100,000 toward the committee this month. 

The independent committee — which, unlike candidate-controlled committees, has no contribution limits —  has served as a one-two punch alongside Lurie’s own campaign.

It has paid out an astonishing $2.1 million to an Antioch-based printing company for glossy flyers that have been distributed across the city. The U.S. Postal Service has been paid $778,000, likely for postage — about the same amount that a PAC supporting progressive mayoral candidate Aaron Peskin has raised in total. 

Lurie’s own campaign has paid $3.5 million for TV and cable airtime to get his formerly unknown face in front of voters. The operation has spent $400,000 on polling and survey research, nearly $900,000 on campaign workers’ salaries, and another $300,000 on consultants. A recent Standard report estimated Lurie has spent about $10 for every San Francisco resident in his bid for the mayor’s seat. 

Daniel Lurie blames "City Hall insiders" for San Francisco's problems in a campaign advertisement.

The campaign material has cast Lurie — often with his arms at his hips or crossed, wearing a white button-down — as a political outsider unshackled from the City Hall political culture that some argue is at the root of San Francisco’s problems. 

Adam Swig, founder of the nonprofit Value Culture, said that the amount of money Lurie and his family spend on the campaign shouldn’t detract from the fact that Lurie has “worked with every mayor with his nonprofit and all the department heads.” 

“He knows this city,” Swig added, though he declined to share who he is endorsing for mayor. 

“If someone is spending a lot of money, it’s because they want you to hear them and know who they are,” Swig said. 

In a statement, Lurie’s spokesperson, Max Szabo, declined to answer about the candidate’s finances, citing The Standard chairman Michael Moritz’s support of groups backing his opponent Mark Farrell. When a Standard reporter approached Lurie at an event on Saturday, he similarly dismissed the questions.

‘We’re looking at a reactive electorate’

Not all philanthropists are pleased about Lurie’s and Haas’ spending on the mayoral race. 

“It doesn’t feel like you earned it when you buy it,” said Susie Buell, a big donor to Democratic causes, who is supporting Breed for mayor. “He’s bought this, and it isn’t a good look. It’s not an appropriate way to enter politics.” 

She added, “[Lurie] is a very nice man, but his experience is very limited. London has learned from the inside out. To throw that experience out would be a shame, especially for someone we don’t know.” 

Two men in suits are engaged in conversation at a social event, surrounded by people in formal attire. The lighting is warm and the setting appears lively.
Daniel Lurie and former Apple designer Jony Ive attend a Tipping Point Community event in 2015 in San Francisco. | Source: Courtesy

Keally McBride, a University of San Francisco politics professor, said voters looking for change at City Hall would likely overlook Lurie’s wealth. She pointed out that the city has elected those with means in the past, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and the late Sen. Dianne Feinstein.

“Yes, he’s been able to self-fund [his] campaign,” said University of San Francisco politics professor Keally McBride about Lurie. “But he’s run into an electorate that is really open to his particular message right now. And it could be that he’ll bomb in office, and we’ll have another billionaire run next time and no one will vote for them. We’re looking at a reactive electorate right now.”

Editor’s note: A Mercedes vehicle is registered at Daniel Lurie’s residence, according to Department of Motor Vehicles data. The campaign told The Standard after publication that he does not own the car anymore.