laurence-ion

Because, more than ever, nobody’s at the wheel

When the first autonomous robotaxis [rolled onto San Francisco’s streets in 2021](https://sfstandard.com/2022/02/25/its-finally-here-real-driverless-cruise-cars-spotted-picking-up-passengers-around-the-city/), it felt like we were gliding into the uncanny valley. The very idea scrambled the mind: Riding in a car with no driver? Madness.

And yet, four years later, we’re seamlessly summoning Waymos or, soon enough, their [ridiculously named competitors](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/05/tesla-zoox-robotaxis-waymo-driverless-cabs/). Even those [who once said, “No way, not me](https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/28/waymo-robotaxis-stole-hearts/)” find themselves hailing these (safer, saner) rides. Everywhere you look in San Francisco, there’s a white Jaguar I-Pace with an empty driver’s seat and a peaceful rider. What once was bizarre is now banal. 

A driverless car is the perfect metaphor for life in 2025. It’s been all gas, no brakes since November, when most San Franciscans’ dreams of a steady hand at the wheel of government — the Bay Area’s own Kamala Harris — were T-boned by Donald Trump, the ultimate road-rager. The election was a brutal and humbling confirmation that we in coastal California live in a hermetically sealed robotaxi of the mind. 

Seriously, who’s at the wheel right now? In California, our liberal governor has become a right-pandering podcaster. In D.C., a former hero of Silicon Valley is stripping the steering wheel, seatbelts, and airbags of civil society. Does the country still operate under the rule of law, or are we fishtailing into a constitutional crisis? Are the tech companies that defined this city for so many decades still creating the future, or are they about to hand the full stack to artificial general intelligence and put mankind permanently in the back seat? 

And so, we ride on, the steering wheel turning itself, the route to who knows where decided by who knows what. Buckle up, world. Like it or not, this is happening. It’s just happened in San Francisco first.

The Waymo Driver

Change engine

Because he changed the Warriors, the NBA, and the world

Everybody's been waiting for Steph Curry's run to hit an expiration date, but the Golden State Warriors’ point guard keeps pushing it back while adding new moves. Not only did Curry lead the way for Team USA's gold medal in last year's Summer Olympics, he's been looking more energized than ever after the [Warriors' trade for Jimmy Butler](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/05/warriors-trade-for-jimmy-butler-extension-andrew-wiggins/) in February. Will the Warriors win a fifth title? As long as they have Curry — and continue to do right by him — they'll have a shot at it.

Off the court, Curry shares the stage with his wife, Ayesha, making them one of the city’s (if not the world’s) most-admired power couples. With four preteen kids, they juggle their business portfolio Thirty Ink, which includes production company Unanimous Media, the sneaker and athletic wear line Curry Brand (which Adam Sandler [rocked at the Oscars](https://www.complex.com/sneakers/a/victor-deng/adam-sandler-under-armour-curry-11-oscar) this year), and Gentleman’s Cut bourbon, among other brands. Their Eat. Learn. Play. Foundation recently finished renovating 20 basketball gyms — 11 of which are in Oakland. 

Curry’s plans to build a headquarters for Thirty Ink in Dopatch are currently being stymied by a [fight with the Nor Cal Carpenters Union](https://sfstandard.com/2025/04/03/steph-curry-dogpatch-project-axed-over-union-dispute/), but the champion’s web of philanthropy, entrepreneurship, and leadership remain indelible.

Steph Curry

Point guard

Because OpenAI is the white-hot center of tech, and he lit its fuse

When OpenAI publicly released ChatGPT in 2022, a sizable number of San Francisco tech workers had recently departed for more space and lower taxes in Oregon, Montana, and Texas. But as AI rapidly became investors’ new bicycle, entrepreneurs boomeranged back to build their companies in the city, alongside Sam Altman’s research lab turned tech behemoth that now occupies [nearly 1 million square feet](https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/20/open-ai-expands-in-mission-bay/) in Mission Bay. 

Three years (and at least one [public firing](https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/17/openai-sam-altman-firing-board-members/) and near instantaneous [rehiring](https://sfstandard.com/2023/11/20/microsoft-hires-sam-altman/)) later, Altman is more powerful than ever, [serving on Mayor Daniel Lurie’s transition team](https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/19/openai-sam-altman-daniel-lurie-san-francisco/) and engineering a way to dethrone Elon Musk on national AI policy with Stargate, [a $100 billion initiative](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/21/technology/trump-openai-stargate-artificial-intelligence.html) to invest in data centers across the country. Exhausting as it’s been, we’re only in the opening leg of the AI race, and the winners have yet to be anointed. For now, Altman undeniably leads the pack.


Sam Altman

Cofounder and CEO

Because they remind us this city will never be tamed

For nearly 80 years, coyotes had all but disappeared from San Francisco, victims of chemical culling to protect livestock grazing on federal lands. Then, in 2002, the wild canines were spotted in the Presidio, marking a resurgence in the city proper.

Coyote encounters are now commonplace, ranging from [photogenic sightings](https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/28/living-with-sf-coyotes/) to alarming attacks. One of the city’s most notorious coyotes, Carl, met his demise in the San Francisco Botanical Garden in 2021 at the hands of a federal sniper after a series of close encounters with humans, including children. Three other coyotes met similar ends last year after one [bit a 5-year-old](https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/01/san-francisco-coyotes-shot-girl-bitten/) who got too close to her den in Golden Gate Park. 

Though best kept at gazing distance, San Francisco’s coyotes are being closely studied by scientists, leading to fascinating insights, like how their genetic proximity to domestic dogs makes them [uniquely suited](https://bioengineer.org/urban-evolution-in-action-insights-from-coyote-genetics/) to human coexistence.


Urban Coyotes

Canis latrans

Because an upstart baker brought new flavor to a San Francisco staple

Just a few short years ago, Azikiwee Anderson would show up unannounced at restaurants with a loaf of purple, ube-flavored sourdough in hand and a simple request: Just try it. Fast-forward to last summer, and Anderson’s Rize Up Bakery — and that irresistibly Instagrammable purple bread — debuted on [national TV](https://www.instagram.com/p/C-HZ65tx-yN/) during the Olympics.

Anderson started Rize Up from his home in 2020, when baking helped him find solace during the pandemic and upheaval over the killing of George Floyd. Today, his offerings can be found in restaurants like Flour + Water and Emmy’s Spaghetti Shack and at markets like Mollie Stone’s and Gus’s, in the form of sourdough infused with gochujang, curry leaf, and truffle, not to mention the regal ube loaf that started it all. Anderson, better known as “Z,” has also spurred a [sandwich boom](https://sf.eater.com/2023/7/25/23807431/rize-up-bakery-hoagie-roll-san-francisco-sandwich) at SF restaurants with his East Coast-style hoagie rolls. In a town famous for sourdough since the Gold Rush, Z is rolling the beloved carb into the future.


Azikiwee Anderson

Owner

Because the state senator has his eye on the prize — and on higher office

Scott Wiener is easy to spot: first, he’s very tall; second, he’s very thin; third, he’s everywhere. 

A former deputy city attorney who climbed the political ladder from San Francisco supervisor to state senator, Wiener has [eyes on a run for Congress](https://sfstandard.com/2023/03/02/scott-wiener-exploratory-committee-nancy-pelosis-congress/) if and when Rep. Nancy Pelosi retires. (Wiener can continue to serve in the state Senate through the end of 2028, so there’s no need for him to challenge Pelosi for her seat in the House, but he will absolutely pounce once the opportunity opens up.) Wiener, who is gay and has lived in the Castro since 1997, has arguably faced more death threats than just about any elected official in California for his unwavering support of LGBTQ+ rights.

A prolific crafter of policy, he has prioritized legislation to confront California’s housing and mental health crises. His bills have offered San Francisco a lifeline to try and meet its Housing Element goal (82,000 new units by 2031), while his bill SB 855 forced private insurers to cover mental healthcare, rather than dodge responsibility.

Wiener can be stubborn in pressing forward on legislation despite fierce opposition lobbying; notably, his [failed bid to regulate the AI industry](https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/28/sb-1047-ai-safety-bill-scott-wiener-nancy-pelosi/) last fall. (Gov. Gavin Newsom vetoed the bill.) As the second Trump administration has roared to life, Wiener has been one of its most outspoken critics, risking more threats. Luckily, he can’t help but stand tall.

Scott Wiener

Senator

Because she built the tech industry’s paper of record

Since Jessica Lessin founded The Information in 2013, she has broken countless tech and business stories while also headlining one of her own: “The Editor Who Got Readers to Pay Handsomely for Journalism.”

The publication’s events regularly host high-profile executives onstage and in the audience, while its news prowess has won over readers like Jeff Bezos and Reed Hastings, hungry for scoops about their competitors. (Elon Musk recently [took a stab at trolling Lessin](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEu98oiLpjc) by asking his AI chatbot Grok what it thought of The Information.) Non-billionaires subscribe to learn the inner workings of the companies they work for and sectors they hope to one day dominate.

Lessin, a former Wall Street Journal reporter, has become a thought leader for her insights on [the intersection of media and technology](https://www.semafor.com/article/01/10/2025/mixed-signals-how-technology-will-shape-media-in-2025-with-jessica-lessin). She has also invested in a number of other publications, [including the hipster tennis quarterly Racquet](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/03/08/business/dealbook/jessica-lessin-the-information-media-investments.html)_._ Lessin somehow manages to run truly critical reporting on the tech industry despite being enmeshed in it, thanks to her husband (and “[intern](https://www.theinformation.com/u/samlessin)”), Sam Lessin, an early Facebook employee and close friend of Mark Zuckerberg.


Jessica Lessin

Founder and CEO

Because at 55, he’s the “young” face of establishment Chinatown

As president of the SF Chinese Chamber of Commerce, Donald Luu [represents a generational shift](https://sfstandard.com/2022/07/14/5-things-to-know-about-the-new-president-of-chinatowns-chamber-of-commerce/) in Chinatown’s leadership. In a community where much older men have traditionally held power, Luu brings fresh energy to the century-old organization that wields serious influence and hosts important cultural events like the Chinese New Year Parade.

Luu’s path to prominence began with hardship. His family fled Vietnam by boat in the late 1970s and spent two years in a Hong Kong refugee camp before arriving in the United States in 1981. After studying engineering at San Jose State University, he became an architect, cofounding [MEI](https://meiarchitects.com/), the firm where he serves as principal.

Résumé aside, Luu carries a special distinction in San Francisco power circles: He was recruited in 2011 by [legendary power broker Rose Pak](https://sfstandard.com/2023/03/25/sfs-most-controversial-asian-power-broker-is-back-at-the-movies/) to join the Chinese Chamber of Commerce and continues her legacy of leveraging the community’s electoral influence.

Donald Luu

President

Because he still wears power like one of his flashy suits

Willie Brown’s nicknames have always connoted his power. As Assembly speaker, he was called the “Ayatollah of the Assembly.” When he left City Hall in 2004 after eight years, he never truly left, with some dubbing him “[Mayor for life](https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/21/williebrown-endorses-kamalaharris-president/).” While Daniel Lurie is the first mayor in two decades with no direct ties to Brown, only a rube would think Brown couldn’t call Room 200 for a meeting at any time, and at least get the call returned. 

With protégé Kamala Harris temporarily out of politics (and [signed with CAA](https://variety.com/2025/biz/news/kamala-harris-caa-1236312527/)), Brown no longer enjoys an ally at the highest echelons of the federal government. Still, he’s got connections, from Gov. Gavin Newsom, whom Brown once appointed to the parking commission, to staffers throughout city agencies. Who he knows is one source of the dapper Brown’s political clout, but knowing what they want is another. When the city finds itself in need of political cunning, or a new mayor needs some sage advice, Brown is always right there. As he said in his cameo in “The Princess Diaries,” “It never comes down on Willie Brown.”

Willie Brown

Da Mayor

Because his wild visions are captivating the world

At just 33, Woody De Othello is quickly becoming the Bay Area’s buzziest artist, with works in the de Young, the Whitney, and the Los Angeles County Museum of Art. As Othello has gained worldwide recognition in the last decade (including a spot in the 2022 Whitney Biennial), he chose to stay in the Bay Area, signing with Jessica Silverman in 2017 and [setting up shop](https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/17/t-magazine/woody-de-othello-art.html) in the East Bay, where he makes his bronze and ceramic sculptures, as well as paintings and drawings. In January, he became one of the youngest members to serve on the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art’s board of trustees.

His massive sculptures embrace the absurd, the grotesque, and the humorous, reaching back to [funk art](https://hyperallergic.com/372519/looking-back-at-the-strange-and-surly-history-of-bay-area-funk-art/), one of the Bay Area’s most memorable movements.

“Younger artists are very excited to see someone local succeed at that level,” said Nathan Lynch, who taught Othello at California College of the Arts. “He’s having this rise with a high degree of grace and humility and sense of humor, and that makes it twice as interesting to witness. It’s very San Francisco.” 

De Othello’s work may, in fact, be the first piece of art visitors see upon arriving in San Francisco: In 2019, his sculpture [“Time, Turn, and Light” was permanently installed](https://www.sfomuseum.org/public-art/public-collection/time-turn-and-light) at SFO’s International Terminal.


Woody De Othello

Artist

Because she takes on the city’s hottest issue, yet everyone seems cool with her

At a February meeting of the Planning Commission, Lisa Chen finished her presentation, then sat back down so dozens of people could declare that her work was going to destroy lives and ruin the city.

Just another day in the trenches for the planner in charge of reshaping San Francisco in 2025.

State officials have a regulatory gun to the city’s head, demanding that it redo zoning regulations to accommodate 36,000 additional homes or face steep penalties. To meet that goal, San Francisco must allow bigger apartment buildings throughout the western neighborhoods. To no surprise, residents there are not pleased. “It’s the project that many people thought we would never do,” Chen said. “For many years, adding housing density on the west and central parts of the city was kind of a third rail.” 

Three years ago, SF Planning leadership promoted Chen to principal planner in the Citywide Planning division. This meant she’d be leading the charge to redraw San Francisco’s zoning map. It also meant she’d be at the center of scores of contentious public meetings, protests, and political showdowns. 

But Chen is finally in the home stretch; the city must finalize its rezoning plan by January 2026. The effort has the potential to transform San Francisco for generations to come. Multistory apartments will likely pop up on avenues that have been stubbornly preserved for low-slung buildings. With the stakes so high, neighborhood groups are [rallying their troops](https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/07/san-francisco-zoning-housing-element-united-neighborhoods/), while YIMBYs launched a [campaign to pressure Lurie](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/04/san-francisco-yimby-mayor-daniel-lurie-rezoning/?utm_campaign=SF+Standard+Daily\&utm_medium=email\&utm_source=SF+Standard\&utm_content=top_stories%5C) to allow development.

Despite representing the public face of SF Planning at hostile public meetings, Chen has managed to pull off something impossible: being liked by virtually everyone involved.

“I don’t think we could have asked for someone better to do this,” said SF Planning Director Rich Hillis. Even Chen’s critics, he said, “almost universally would agree that she’s smart, she’s professional, and she’s putting forward what she thinks would be the best land-use policy.”

Chen lives with her two young children and her husband, Berkeley city planner Jordan Klein. She grimaced before saying that the family resides in a single-family home in Oakland. “I know how it looks,” she admitted.

But living in that house has made her optimistic about the possibility of transformation on San Francisco’s west side. Her Oakland community has traditionally been filled with small buildings, but taller apartments are starting to rise along Telegraph Avenue, just two blocks from her home. Chen’s family has been pleased to see a new grocery store and cafe, and she hopes that San Franciscans will have the same experience in their areas. 

“We’re not just doing it because it’s a requirement,” she said. “We’re doing it because we’ve had a long-simmering housing crisis that has not gone away.”

Lisa Chen

Principal planner

Because she may hold the most important position in Lurie World

If the chief of staff is the gatekeeper of an organization, then Staci Slaughter has her hands full manning the barricades for Mayor Lurie. 

Slaughter knows her way around City Hall. She worked in Mayor Frank Jordan’s office as an adviser, spokesperson, and speechwriter in the 1990s. Since then, she’s been a board member or advised for investment firms such as Sixth Street Partners and JPM Group. She has had ties to the women’s soccer club Bay FC, the California Academy of Sciences, the Golden Gate National Parks Conservancy, and USA Gymnastics. 

This isn’t the first time Slaughter has been at the center of power. She was chief of staff for Giants CEO Larry Baer, one of the city’s biggest power players, and worked on the team’s $1-billion-plus Mission Rock mixed-use project near Oracle Park.

Staci Slaughter

Chief of staff

As the 49ers have strained desperately to notch a Super Bowl win (their last was in 1994), tight end George Kittle has become the central emblem of that effort. And not just because he’s one of the team’s best players and likely one of the best tight ends of all time. He’s also one of the funniest, most free-spirited players in the game, as anyone who listened to his mic’ed up performance on the Netflix docuseries “Receiver” can attest. 

Kittle joined the 49ers in 2017 and quickly became “one of the NFL’s most interesting players,” according to [The Athletic](https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5998550/2024/12/17/george-kittle-49ers-tattoos-mind/). Certainly, every BART and Muni commuter who has seen Kittle in those ubiquitous Zenni ads knows he has a weird magnetism. As he enters his ninth season, there’s already talk of a contract extension, bringing him to a decade in the Bay, an eternity in the league that pundits jokingly-not-jokingly claim stands for “Not For Long.” If the 49ers ever do win the big game, you can bet it’ll be Kittle and his affordable, direct-to-consumer eyewear leading the parade down Market Street.


George Kittle

Tight end

Because he may become an evil billionaire, but he'll be our evil billionaire

Despite his recent [embrace of Donald Trump](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/06/as-marc-benioff-warms-to-trump-time-staffers-cool-to-their-owner/), Marc Benioff remains a stalwart champion of the president’s least-favorite city. While customer relationship management software isn’t exactly a sexy business, Salesforce is the largest private employer in San Francisco. The company’s [Dreamforce conference](https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/17/benioff-bringing-dreamforce-back-to-san-francisco/) consistently brings in tens of thousands of people — and tens of millions of dollars — every year. (For evidence of Benioff’s enduring power, look no further than the public freak-out when he [briefly threatened to move Dreamforce](https://sfstandard.com/2023/09/14/dreamforce-last-time-san-francisco-tech-community-wonders-benioff/) elsewhere in 2023.)

It’s unclear whether Benioff’s newfound fondness for 47 has resulted in any real sway with the administration, but Time magazine, which Benioff owns, did manage to pull Trump to a party at the New York Stock Exchange after naming him Person of the Year. Plus, Benioff has wasted no time pitching his ideas to the Lurie administration, suggesting that the city address its problems with — what else? — AI agents. The mayor didn’t exactly embrace that idea publicly, but if he’s hoping to fund public-sector projects with private-sector donors, he’d be wise to join the billionaire’s “ohana.”

Marc Benioff

Because the sale of fine art to tech moguls can be a work of art in itself

Jessica Silverman’s eponymous Chinatown gallery is the epicenter of the city’s art scene, as some of her nationally renowned artists — including David Huffman, Sadie Barnette, and Woody De Othello — have become synonymous with the Bay Area. San Francisco’s art market is more intimate and less commercial than those of New York City and Los Angeles, yet Silverman wields serious hustle and connections. 

Her power comes from deep ties to the city’s tech and finance elite, who look to her for guidance in building collections, as they move into fine art money that a few years ago would have been spent on NFTs. With her sharp eye and business acumen, Silverman isn’t just pushing artworks, she’s shaping the city’s aesthetic, one sale at a time.

Jessica Silverman

Because his Transamerica Pyramid looms over our post-doom landscape

San Francisco has a lot riding on the success of Michael Shvo’s takeover of [the Transamerica Pyramid](https://sfstandard.com/2023/05/29/how-a-once-hated-corporate-emblem-became-a-beloved-san-francisco-landmark/), which stands as an 853-foot barometer of the city’s pandemic recovery. Love him or hate him — [New York magazine once called](https://nymag.com/nymetro/realestate/features/11619/) Shvo a “superstar” and the “most loathed broker” in New York _in a single headline_ — the developer is making a serious and expensive play for San Francisco.

Shvo made his name developing luxury residential and commercial properties in high-end neighborhoods in New York and Miami before paying a whopping $650 million for the pyramid and its adjacent land just before San Francisco’s commercial market took a nosedive in 2020. 

Speaking with The Standard in 2023, [Shvo called the pyramid](https://sfstandard.com/2023/10/24/transamerica-pyramid-downtown-san-francisco-michael-shvo/) his “American dream.” A year later, though, he was [telling a reporter from the Real Deal](https://therealdeal.com/san-francisco/2024/12/05/michael-shvo-talks-about-transamerica-pyramid/) that “every single thing that could have gone wrong for us to buy this building has gone wrong, and with that we prevailed, because I have a vision and I move forward.”

Following a major renovation, the pyramid reopened in September [amid some high-flying trolling](https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/12/shvo-must-go-banner-flown-above-transamerica-pyramid/). Meanwhile, Shvo’s relationship with CORE: Holdings, which was supposed to operate a private club at the building, has collapsed, with [both sides suing](https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/26/core-club-michael-shvo-transamerica-pyramid-lawsuit/). In March, nearly 46,000 square feet that had been reserved for CORE [were listed as available](https://www.sfchronicle.com/realestate/article/sf-pyramid-core-club-shvo-20220504.php) for lease. Shvo remains optimistic about the pyramid, [which he says represents](https://observer.com/2024/12/interview-real-estate-developer-art-collector-michael-shvo/) “the spirit and resiliency of San Francisco.”

Michael Shvo

Chairman and CEO

Because he’s the ultimate accelerant — of tech startups and internet beefs

Garry Tan doesn’t just fund the future of tech, he helps decide who builds it. As leader of Y Combinator, Silicon Valley’s best-known startup accelerator, Tan is hoping to break the next herd of unicorns.

Since taking over YC in 2022, Tan has doubled down on its San Francisco presence by relocating from Mountain View to the Dogpatch. The former industrial neighborhood is now a quasi campus for San Francisco’s thousands of startup founders, drawn by the AI boom. 

Tan has given [more than $400,000](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/03/29/business/garry-tan-san-francisco-politics.html) to politicians and organizations in the past few years and emerged as a bombastic advocate for a larger police force, a flourishing public school district, and more housing for all income levels.

Garry Tan

President and CEO

Because the ex-speaker may have lost the gavel, but she still has the floor

Nancy Pelosi stepped down as House speaker in 2022, but her influence on the Democratic Party has hardly receded. Serving in the honorific role of speaker emerita, she still has a hand in Democratic strategy and decisionmaking as a consigliere to House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries. She also played a pivotal role in convincing Joe Biden to step down from the Democratic ticket last summer.

The political waters run deep in Pelosi’s family. Her father, Thomas D'Alesandro Jr., served as a congressman and mayor of Baltimore, and her own journey from San Francisco wife and mother to the pinnacle of U.S. politics is the stuff of legend. Throughout nearly four decades in office, Pelosi shattered the glass ceiling while also breaking the will of her critics and adversaries. As the first woman speaker of the House, she had a critical role in passing the Affordable Care Act. She also routinely outmaneuvered and embarrassed President Donald Trump during his first term, while wielding major influence locally.

With Trump back in the Oval Office and Pelosi turning 85, there’s active speculation about her[ retirement](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/26/nancy-pelosi-retirement-house-democrats-succession-plan/). Pelosi may indeed be close to the end of her career, but Republican attacks on Medicaid seem to be energizing her. As her criticism of [Sen. Chuck Schumer’s capitulation to Republicans](https://www.politico.com/news/2025/03/18/pelosi-shivs-schumer-dont-give-away-anything-for-nothing-00237661) on spending in March makes clear, the lioness of Congress still has some fight in her.

Nancy Pelosi

Congresswoman

Because even a self-trained reporter knows that if it bleeds, it leads

FriscoLive415 doesn’t call himself a journalist, but he is on the streets every week documenting drug dealing, addiction, and police activity without fear or favor. A self-professed #ScannerJunkie, Mr. Live (who prefers not to share his legal name) listens in on dispatcher calls, then bikes to crime scenes, where he records videos on his iPhone for his thousands of followers on [X](https://x.com/friscolive415) and [Instagram](https://www.instagram.com/friscolive415/?hl=en). Unlike some similar accounts, he doesn’t aggregate other people’s videos, rely solely on tipsters, or become embroiled in [vicious beefs](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/07/jj-smith-tire-slashing-accusations-x-twitter-beef/). And so far, he’s been [arrested](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/27/friscolive415-detained-drug-raid-jefferson-square-park/) only once while reporting.

Mr. Live, who lives near City Hall, doesn’t hide his general view of what’s wrong with the city (a culture of permissiveness) or how to fix it (law enforcement crackdowns) but says he has no political agenda. Critics say his videos reinforce negative perceptions of San Francisco, but he disagrees. “The stuff that’s happening drives it,” he said. “The publicity puts pressure on politicians that otherwise don’t give a shit.”

FriscoLive415

Citizen journalist

Because pro-housing advocates are saying yes — a thousand times, yes

It is no secret that over the past 10 years, San Francisco’s housing politics have flipped upside down. “Development” used to be such a dirty word that local politicians didn’t even want to talk about granny flats. Now, as evidenced by last year’s mayoral campaigns, everybody has to talk about the lack of housing — even notorious preservationists like Aaron Peskin.

This shift is due in part to the political efforts of YIMBY, the SF-born movement of housing construction advocates and, in particular, the movement’s best megaphone, Armand Domalewski. The San Francisco data scientist has amassed more than 70,000 followers on X for his sharp elbows and pro-housing stance. In the runup to the 2024 presidential election, Domalewski went national with the political group [YIMBYs for Harris](https://yimbysforharris.com/).

Post-election, Domalewski is interested in “retooling” the outfit as a national pro-housing group, while, closer to home, keeping housing on Mayor Lurie’s agenda.

Armand Domalewski

Megaphone

Because she turns on the internet with her rationalist dirty talk

Aella — the homeschooled fundamentalist Calvinist turned Substack sex researcher, Only Fans model, and [$4,000-an-hour escort](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HcDIpPqyGyg) — is the go-to sexpert for a certain Gen Zer or millennial straight guy fed up with the Bay Area dating scene. Her advice: “Guys who struggle with dating should start making spreadsheets … and figuring out what converts. Give them an exit survey.”

“That’s how you get better at sex,” she added. “You collect feedback.”

Aella speaks from experience: After a deep dive into the [factors that increase success on OnlyFans](https://x.com/aella_girl/status/1335725267340251137), she A/B tested her content, which [skyrocketed her to the top 1%](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gj8qQwZ2y0U) of earners on the platform. During her best month, she pulled in $103,000, she claims.

Aella’s combination of nerdiness and sexual openness, and her look — something between cottagecore and dark faerie — has catapulted her from camgirl to cult figure. She’s also become an intellectual pinup for certain denizens of the “heterodox” internet. 

Her [provocative Twitter polls](https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1462824227090976772.html) and Guided Track surveys — more than [800,000 people](https://aella.substack.com/p/a-girls-guide-to-a-data-driven-orgy) filled in her “Big Kink” questionnaire — helped expand her reach to 231,000 [followers on X](https://x.com/aella_girl?lang=en) and 113,900 subscribers to [Knowingless](https://aella.substack.com/), her Substack. Marc Andreessen has called her ideas “[fantastic](https://x.com/pmarca/status/1508670641834131461).”

In some ways, Aella’s frankness is just the latest iteration of the Bay Area’s long history of pushing sexual boundaries and shifting what is considered acceptable among consenting adults. But what makes her a thoroughly modern icon is her very San Francisco embrace of data. Where previous generations of libertines led with their hearts (as well as other organs), Aella uses her mind as her guide.

“Nerdy men think about sex in a systematic way, but it’s rare to find a woman who thinks \[like that] and is willing to talk about it,” she said. “I don't have much competition.”


Aella

Sex researcher

Because he revolutionized digital payments and, now, how science gets funded

As cofounder and CEO of Stripe, Patrick Collison has built a fintech juggernaut [valued at nearly $100 billion](https://www.cnbc.com/2025/02/27/stripes-valuation-climbs-to-91point5-billion-in-secondary-stock-sale-.html). It’s one of the world’s most widely used financial infrastructure companies, as well as the backbone of San Francisco’s startup scene.

But Collison has ambitions that extend beyond processing ecommerce payments. In 2021, he cofounded [Arc Institute](https://arcinstitute.org/), a biomedical research hub that studies cancer, neurodegeneration, and immune dysfunction. With funding from private sources rather than traditional government grants, Arc embodies the Silicon Valley ethos of rapid development without bureaucratic barriers. Collison’s vision: to disrupt scientific research the way Stripe did payments.

Patrick Collison

Cofounder

Because a road can become a park if you’re ready to fight for it

Lucas Lux never wanted to be in politics, but he somehow won a massive political battle. In 2024, the Kansas native and Google attorney took unpaid leave to become campaign manager for Proposition K, the controversial initiative to convert part of the Great Highway into a recreational space. Despite fierce opposition, Lucas orchestrated a citywide strategy that [secured the measure’s victory](https://sfstandard.com/2024/10/31/sf-election-2024-prop-k-great-highway/) in November.

Since K’s passage, Lux has largely stepped back from the political fray and is working to build the park he fought so hard to create, Sunset Dunes. Inspired by Crissy Field and the Presidio's natural beauty, he envisions a greener city for his toddler and all city residents. “We're giving something incredible to our next generation,” he said.

Lucas Lux

Because this list definitely wouldn't exist without him

To get the awkward part out of the way: Yes, Michael Moritz is the chairman of The Standard. 

But even if he weren’t the boss, Moritz would belong on any list of San Francisco's most influential residents. The former head of Sequoia Capital, he now oversees one of the city's largest philanthropies, [Crankstart](https://crankstart.org/), with nearly $4 billion in assets as of 2023. Crankstart has handed out hundreds of grants to nonprofits in education, housing, and the environment, among other sectors, and has become an increasingly vital funding stream as federal grants are obliterated during the Trump era.

Most important, he's a champion of quality journalism, having started his career as a reporter covering Silicon Valley for Time magazine. (Check out this 1983 piece he contributed to about a [27-year-old “personal computer” executive](https://time.com/archive/6699318/the-updated-book-off-jobs/) named Steve Jobs.) Moritz is a rarity at this particular moment in history: a billionaire media owner who just wants to tell the truth and doesn’t care whom it pisses off.

Michael Moritz

Investor

Because his status update is changing the culture again, for better or worse

The fact that “Zuckdaddy” has entered the lexicon tells you pretty much all you need to know about the year Mark Zuckerberg has had. From his Gen Z hair makeover to becoming a UFC fanboy to performing [Benson Boone cosplay](https://www.instagram.com/zuck/reel/DGoDxw5PvlH/?hl=en) for his wife’s 40th birthday, the Facebook cofounder and CEO has been letting loose. For better and for worse.

For decades, Zuckerberg has had the kind of power that comes from having billions in the bank and billions on his platform, but this year, he got something else entirely: cultural cachet. His MAGA makeover hasn’t won him many friends on the left, but it did earn him a front-row seat at Trump’s inauguration, a [spot on “The Joe Rogan Experience](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/10/meta-zuckerberg-rogan-dei-censorship/),” and the (slightly mocking) adoration of manosphere bros who would’ve shoved him into a locker in high school. For proof of his cultural dominance, look no further than the [Zuckerberg-themed rave](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/23/zuck-rave-san-francisco-was-meta/) this winter in San Francisco, complete with “Zucker Punch” cocktails and a Zuck-shaped piñata. As one attendee said, “I’ve never trusted him. But I’m glad he’s coming into his main-character phase.”

Mark Zuckerberg

Because downtown needed a party, and Into the Streets brings it

Few events have reanimated downtown quite like [Bhangra and Beats](https://sfstandard.com/2023/04/09/san-franciscos-newest-plan-to-resurrect-downtown-involves-indian-dancing/)’ wildly successful night markets. Conceived in spring 2023, the South Asian food and music party at the intersection of Battery and Clay was a tough sell at a time when the doom-loop narrative reigned supreme.

“Prior to us opening, people did not believe a night market could work in San Francisco,” said Katy Birnbaum, who heads [Into the Streets](https://www.intothestreetssf.com/), the nonprofit that produces Bhangra. “Everybody shut it down when I pitched it.” 

Countless revelers have shown up to the Friday-night parties since 2023. (The next one is [May 10](https://www.bhangraandbeats.com/).) Subsequent Into the Streets events like Downtown First Thursdays have become even bigger draws. Think of them as neighborhood revivals at the street level, a rebuke to critics who think nothing can turn around downtown.

Katy Birnbaum

Because he's an in-your-face owner who knows the (high) price of victory

Joe Lacob isn’t the behind-the-scenes sort. The owner of the Warriors is often seen courtside, standing, shaking his fist, and rallying players just like the fans in the nosebleeds. He can be over the top. He can seem to be meddling. But Lacob and co-owner Peter Guber have turned the Warriors into the most valuable team in the NBA. Through financial might and Steph Curry magic, the Warriors have brought home four championship trophies.

There's only one Bay Area franchise owner who’s historically comparable: Eddie DeBartolo Jr., who eagerly funded the 49ers’ dynasty decades ago. In a similar way, Lacob has spent freely, signing off on luxury-tax payments that, by themselves, dwarf the total payroll of many NBA teams over the last few years. And Lacob [did it again in February](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/28/warriors-owner-joe-lacob-jimmy-butler-kevin-durant/) by tacking on a $112 million extension to make sure [Jimmy Butler was happy to join the Warriors](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/05/warriors-trade-for-jimmy-butler-extension-andrew-wiggins/). Whoever said winning was cheap?


Joe Lacob

Co-owner

Alex Tourk has spent three decades traversing San Francisco’s political landscape while becoming a go-to policy guy for top-dollar clients. During his time in City Hall under Mayor Gavin Newsom, Tourk developed Project Homeless Connect to help economically strapped residents pay for everyday expenses and receive support services — an approach that has been replicated in more than 200 cities.

As founder and principal of consulting firm Ground Floor Public Affairs, Tourk has clients that include crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, OpenAI, Doordash, Samsara, and Lyft. A proponent of public-private partnerships, Ground Floor also works with community organizations like Episcopal Community Services, Larkin Street Youth Services, and the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. Mayor Daniel Lurie’s reliance on private donations to help the city attack its most pressing challenges will likely keep Tourk — who moves between the business world and grassroots groups — busy in the years ahead.

Alex Tourk

Principal

Because she’s the world’s most improbable party promoter

Another Planet Entertainment and its production director, Mary Conde, made 2024 a great year for live music in San Francisco. Whether it was ticketed events like Fred Again and Skrillex drawing [25,000 revelers to Civic Center](https://sfstandard.com/2024/06/02/skrillex-rave-civic-center/) with three days’ notice, DJ-producer Sacha Robotti [headlining a free rave on the Embarcadero](https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/15/another-planet-entertainment-dirtybird-embarcadero/), or indie rock veterans [Portugal. The Man playing a free all-ages show](https://sfstandard.com/2024/08/21/portugal-the-man-free-show-civic-center/), APE has been central to the city’s efforts to climb out of the Covid doldrums.

Conde has been in charge of production since the company’s 2003 inception: “I was employee No. 1.” Her favorite acts of all time are Metallica, the Grateful Dead, and Taylor Swift. “I’m in my Taylor Swift era now,” the 62-year-old Alameda resident said. “That’s my easy, springtime vibes.”

Outside Lands, which has generated more than $1 billion over 16 years, brings 250,000 people to Golden Gate Park every August; everyone from Paul McCartney to Kendrick Lamar has graced its stages since 2008. The lineup for [2025’s festival just dropped](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/25/outside-lands-lineup-tyler-creator-doja-cat-hozier/), and Conde said she’s most excited not for headliners like Doja Cat and Hozier but for the Grammy-winning rapper Doechii.

The Lurie administration appears eager to keep the music — and the momentum — going. The mayor’s Chinatown inauguration party was [headlined by San Francisco-born DJ and producer Zhu](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/06/zhu-performing-daniel-lurie-inauguration/). And who produced that event with only 15 days of lead time? Yup, you guessed it: Conde.

Mary Conde

Senior vice president

Because he has yet to meet a development that was too tough to build

The founder of Presidio Bay has developed a reputation as one of the city’s sharpest minds in real estate, able to attract investors and finish commercial and residential projects under challenging conditions. The 193-unit [Ventana Residences in the Outer Mission](https://sfstandard.com/2022/09/28/san-francisco-real-estate-5-huge-housing-projects-that-beat-insane-city-rules-to-get-built/), for example, was completed last year, while many other private housing developments were stuck in limbo. Meanwhile, the firm’s mixed-use [Springline development](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/07/menlo-park-san-francisco-rent-increase/) in Menlo Park is nearly fully leased, despite having some of the Bay Area’s highest rents. 

Born in Los Angeles and raised largely in Dubai, Sanandaji worked for the U.S. General Services Administration before launching his company. Throughout the “doom loop” days, he was a staunch advocate for San Francisco and won the hearts of local beer lovers by [brokering the Chobani-Anchor Steam deal](https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/31/anchor-brewing-sold-to-chobani-yogurt-king-yes-the-old-label-will-return/) in 2024.

Cyrus Sanandaji

Managing principal

Because they won the AV war before it even started

Need proof of the power wielded by the duo behind the world’s most successful autonomous vehicle company? Just leave a concert.

As the well-heeled crowd spilled onto the street from the grand entrance of Louise M. Davies Symphony Hall after a performance of Rachmaninoff in late February, a string of silent white Jaguar I-PACEs without drivers waited like obedient sentinels to whisk away their human cargo. It would be creepy if it weren’t so convenient.

The co-CEO model isn’t known for stability, but Mawakana and Dolgov’s results speak for themselves. Waymo’s 700 I-PACE SUVs [claim more than 200,000 paid rides a week](https://waymo.com/blog/2024/12/year-in-review-2024) in the Bay Area, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. The cognitive dissonance of a car operating sans driver has mellowed (somewhat — it’s still pretty damn astonishing), and some robo-loving locals [can’t get enough](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/25/meet-the-biggest-waymo-addicts/).

Waymos are ubiquitous, the go-to vehicles for [every sort of excursion](https://sfstandard.com/2023/08/11/san-francisco-robotaxi-cruise-debauchery/) across the city. They’ve also become a tourist attraction, a kind of futuristic version of the cable cars. The Alphabet subsidiary has pulled in $11 billion in funding, including a $5.6 billion haul last year.

Mawakana, a trained attorney, cut her teeth at Yahoo and eBay before taking on the Herculean task of wrangling regulators to clear the road for autonomous vehicles. Dolgov, meanwhile, is an AV pioneer whose ties to Waymo go back to the earliest days of the Google Self-Driving Car Project.

“We drove our first autonomous miles across the Golden Gate Bridge and Lombard Street more than a decade ago,” Dolgov said. “But back then, the idea of AVs was abstract. Now, we’re seeing everyone from senior citizens to tech workers embracing it.”

With its steep hills and unpredictable traffic, San Francisco was the ideal proving ground for the fleet. Waymo has been expanding rapidly, with its AI now training for left-hand traffic in Tokyo and other markets. In the last year, the company launched in Los Angeles and Austin and keeps pushing forward as its biggest rival, Cruise, [imploded](https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/10/cruise-robotaxis-are-dead/). 

That’s not to say it’s been a smooth ride. Vigilantes have [disabled Waymos with traffic cones](https://sfstandard.com/2023/07/07/we-spoke-to-one-of-the-activists-coning-cruise-and-waymo-robotaxis-in-san-francisco/), and one robotaxi [got torched in Chinatown](https://sfstandard.com/2024/02/10/waymo-robotaxi-goes-up-in-flames-in-chinatown-after-crowd-attacks-vehicle/) by an angry mob with fireworks.

But Waymo’s obsessive focus on safety has cemented its dominance in the industry. The [first fatal accident involving a Waymo](https://www.nbcbayarea.com/investigations/waymo-multi-car-wreck-san-francisco-driverless/3766860/) occurred in January. But the culprit was a human driver. 

Mawakana and Dolgov’s biggest victory has been normalizing the sight of hundreds of driverless cars navigating 1,200 miles of San Francisco streets every single day.



Tekedra Mawakana + Dmitri Dolgov

Co-CEOs

Because he took cars off boulevards — and your street may be next

Jeremy Stoppelman has emerged in recent years as a safe streets advocate and [YIMBY](https://sfstandard.com/2022/09/27/yelp-ceo-jeremy-stoppelman-on-why-hes-been-a-yimby-since-day-one/) leader willing to contribute serious cash in support of his ideals.

Following a decade of here-and-there political contributions, the longtime San Francisco resident started throwing his weight around in 2022. That year, he was the top contributor to the successful push to [kick cars off Golden Gate Park’s JFK Drive](https://sfstandard.com/2022/11/09/party-in-golden-gate-park-skaters-cyclists-celebrate-jfk-drives-permanent-car-free-status/). In the last election cycle, the Yelp chief threw down $350,000 to give a similar treatment to the Great Highway, making him the 10th largest individual donor in local politics.

After recently chipping in $25,000 to protect Joel Engardio from recall (perhaps to shield the supervisor from Great Highway backlash), Stoppelman has topped $1 million in political contributions since 2022.

As urbanists who want a denser, more transit-oriented metropolis battle with suburbanists defending their single-family homes and parking spaces, Stoppelman has chosen his side and shown that he’s not afraid of a few one-star reviews.

Jeremy Stoppelman

Because instead of going nomad, Airbnb stayed in the heart of the city

Ever since Airbnb’s founders hosted three strangers in their SoMa apartment in 2007, the company has been a fixture of the city’s tech scene. In 2022, CEO Brian Chesky proclaimed Airbnb a [“work anywhere” company](https://news.airbnb.com/airbnbs-design-to-live-and-work-anywhere/), prompting some to wonder if its massive HQ in SoMa would go the way of the nearly empty hotels its home-sharing app disrupted. That was until [late last year](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/18/san-francisco-tenants-recommit-to-office/), when Airbnb renewed through 2047 the lease on its 250,902 square feet of office space at 888 Brannan St.

Amazingly, Chesky hasn’t [become a return-to-office absolutist](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/18/san-francisco-in-office-work-era/) like some other CEOs: Airbnb is requiring workers to show up only [one week a month](https://www.entrepreneur.com/business-news/airbnb-ceo-brian-cheskys-one-rule-for-remote-hybrid-work/486878).

While his cofounder Joe Gebbia [inspired a user backlash](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/20/airbnb-hosts-quitting-joe-gebbia-doge/) for aiding and abetting Elon Musk’s DOGE brigade, Chesky continues to get good press and earn Silicon Valley fans like Paul Graham, who called his approach “[founder mode](https://paulgraham.com/foundermode.html).” Airbnb has been promising a [dramatic reinvention](https://www.wired.com/story/big-interview-airbnb-brian-chesky-2024/) in the coming months, and while the details remain under wraps, the company has hinted that it plans to take on tour aggregators like Viator by partnering with licensed guides and operators.

Brian Chesky

Because she's the Bay Area’s first lady of basketball

When Golden State Warriors co-owner Joe Lacob launched the Golden State Valkyries, the Bay Area’s first WNBA team, in 2024, he handed down a single mandate: Win a championship within five years. General Manager Ohemaa Nyanin is tasked with building out the front office and roster, but leading the charge on the court will be Natalie Nakase, who was hired as coach in October. 
 
Nakase comes to the Bay after two years with the Las Vegas Aces, where she was an assistant coach on a team that won back-to-back titles, in 2022 and 2023. Before that, she was the first woman to sit on an NBA bench, as an assistant with the Los Angeles Clippers in 2014. 

Golden State is banking on her championship pedigree rubbing off. “Coach Nakase is someone who you want to run through a brick wall for,” Valkyries guard Kate Martin said. “But she matches it with love and support.”


Natalie Nakase

Head coach

Because he brings experience — and much-needed consensus — to City Hall

With an “outsider” mayor and a fleet of newbies entering City Hall, Supervisor Rafael Mandelman has emerged as an experienced guide. An LGBTQ+ leader who has represented the Castro since 2018, Mandelman is considered a bridge-builder who unites opposing sides.

January's leadership transition in City Hall’s Room 250 came with challenges. After weeks of delicate negotiations, Mandelman united his colleagues on the board, who unanimously elected him president — the second most powerful position in San Francisco and one that is typically decided only after bitter contests. Though he’s approaching the end of his supervisor term and eyeing higher office, Mandelman remains an essential mediator between the executive and legislative branches, as well as between new and established powers.

Rafael Mandelman

Because in the war on cars, she's the field general

Last year, the number of pedestrian deaths in San Francisco reached its [highest point in a decade](https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/28/great-highway-pedestrian-fatality-vision-zero/). Jodie Medeiros and her team at the advocacy group Walk San Francisco were among the first to know about traffic fatalities and the last to stop talking about them. The group [hosted vigils](https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/18/crowd-mourns-family-members-killed-west-portal-crash/) to honor the lives lost and to pressure city leaders to protect San Franciscans from cars. Last March, then-Mayor London Breed called for a “[complete overhaul](https://sfstandard.com/2024/03/28/san-francisco-street-safety-mayor-vision-zero/)” of San Francisco’s streets — a clear sign that Medeiros and her group were making an impact.

Medeiros has worked for two decades with groups pushing for a denser, less-car-dependent city. Before taking the helm of Walk San Francisco in 2017, she served in senior roles at the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition and YIMBY-friendly San Francisco Housing Action Coalition.

Another win: It took Walk San Francisco and its allies five attempts to get a speed-camera bill through the state Legislature, but Gov. Gavin Newsom signed on in 2023, and San Francisco’s era of automated speeding enforcement [has begun](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/19/the-new-automated-speed-cameras-need-humans-to-check-their-work/).

Jodie Medeiros

Executive director

Because one of the city’s best-connected lobbyists is wedded to City Hall

Boe Hayward is your guy if you need help getting something done at City Hall.

The San Francisco native got his political wings as an aide for former Supervisor Bevan Dufty, learning the ins and outs of budgets and land-use policy. Since founding the consulting firm Lighthouse Public Affairs, Hayward has worked with Salesforce, Stripe, Uber, and Wells Fargo. Lighthouse has also been involved with development projects like the so-called [Beast on Bryant](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/article/Housing-showdown-over-Beast-on-Bryant-in-SF-7688500.php) and contract negotiations involving trash company Allied Waste. More recently, Hayward’s clients have included Facebook, Prologis, Zoox, MBC BioLabs, and AT\&T, city lobbying records show. 

Hayward is half of a power couple. His wife, Sophie, is a longtime City Hall staffer who has worked at SF Planning, the Mayor’s Office of Housing and Community Development, and, more recently, in the all-important city administrator’s office as a legislative and public affairs director.

Boe Hayward

Because crime rates are dropping, and she’s taking the credit

Vaulted to the DA's office by the same powerful interests who [helped unseat her predecessor](https://sfstandard.com/2022/06/07/recall-election-sf-district-attorney-chesa-boudin/), Brooke Jenkins has weathered numerous missteps as a novice politician, like hiring [a friend with no legal](https://sfstandard.com/2024/07/26/nursing-professor-monifa-willis-a-friend-of-brooke-jenkins-took-on-the-300k-role-in-march-and-continues-to-pull-in-a-six-figure-salary-at-ucsf/) experience to head up her team. Still, after her appointment in 2022 by Mayor London Breed, voters decided to keep Jenkins in office for another term. She’s now trying to reward their belief by tamping down open-air drug dealing, [ratcheting up prosecutions](https://sfstandard.com/2023/07/06/brooke-jenkins-promise-end-drug-dealing/), and threatening to [file murder charges](https://sfstandard.com/2022/09/28/murder-charges-for-fentanyl-dealers-thats-what-sf-prosecutors-under-da-jenkins-are-threatening-in-court/) against dealers whose drugs kill. Jenkins has [pushed back](https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/13/brooke-jenkins-san-francisco-district-attorney-trump-a/) on being called tough on crime (she prefers “thoughtful”), but as [crime rates drop](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/07/san-francisco-crime-rate-fell-to-23-year-low-in-2024/) she is said to have her eye on higher office.

Brooke Jenkins

District attorney

Because his Jackson Square mini-empire might launch an iPhone killer

In 2007, Jony Ive reshaped the world with the iPhone, a device that found its way into the hands of everyone, including your grandmother. A British American who was [knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2012](https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-18171093), Ive now has his own kingdom, in Jackson Square, where he [quietly purchased nearly an entire city block](https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/29/jony-ive-buys-up-jackson-square-properties/).

Since leaving Apple in 2019, Ive founded LoveFrom, a semi-secretive design firm that serves as consigliere for Airbnb, Ferrari, and OpenAI. Ive’s inner circle (a mix of founders, investors, and luxury tastemakers) gathers regularly in his [blond-wood office](https://www.nytimes.com/2024/09/21/technology/jony-ive-apple-lovefrom.html) for group meals and big think sessions.

In a city defined by its disruptors, Ive stands apart as a designer — of desire, taste, and influence. And he may be building another world-changer during all those dinners: He’s reportedly collaborating with billionaires Laurene Powell Jobs and Sam Altman on an AI-native device to succeed the smartphone your grandma loves so much.

Jony Ive

Because they're gaining in the AI race while trying to center the human one

In the race to dominate artificial intelligence, siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, founders of Anthropic, are building an AI company that’s going bot-to-bot with OpenAI. Both former employees of OpenAI, the Amodeis left Sam Altman’s company to build AI systems that put safety first and, they say, are aligned with human values. Anthropic is on track for $1.4 billion in revenue this year (up from $1 billion in 2024), according to The Information.

The Amodeis have become highly [sought-after voices](https://time.com/collection/time100-ai/6309047/daniela-and-dario-amodei/) pushing for AI safety. Dario called the recent AI Action Summit in Paris a “[missed opportunity](https://www.anthropic.com/news/paris-ai-summit)” and cited a [January U.K. government report](https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/679a0c48a77d250007d313ee/International_AI_Safety_Report_2025_accessible_f.pdf) highlighting “loss of control” scenarios for the nascent technology.


Dario + Daniela Amodei

CEO (Dario), president (Daniela)

Because the newbie politician may actually know what he’s doing

Insiders refer to the seat of power in San Francisco City Hall as “Room 200.” The public knows it by a different name: the mayor’s office. 

In a city where politics have been described as a knife fight in a phone booth, mayors have long used Room 200 to their advantage. Ed Lee’s desk was placed against the windows, forcing his guests to see him in dramatic silhouette; London Breed positioned hers against a far wall so that anyone entering would be forced to focus on her and not the view. 

Mayor Daniel Lurie eschews such power moves. 

His desk is on the west side of the room. As he talks about the mandate he says voters have granted him, in part for rejecting other advantages that are his birthright, the full light of the sun hits his face. He’d better get used to it.

Lurie, who comes from [one of the city’s oldest and most prominent philanthropic families](https://sfstandard.com/2024/10/29/san-francisco-mayor-daniel-lurie-wealth-campaign-expensive-levi-strauss/), is a different kind of mayor than his predecessors. For one thing, he’s pledged to eschew his salary. (As an heir to the Levi Strauss fortune, he certainly doesn’t need it.) For another, he’s not a climber seeking higher office. Like his immediate predecessor, Lurie is a moderate Democrat, but while Breed was known for sorting her political world into enemies and allies, the current occupant of Room 200 has confused progressive Democrats with his willingness to hear out everyone. 

“People aren't used to that,” Lurie said. “They're used to, ‘What's next for an elected?’ And I think that's also what gets electeds into trouble. They're thinking about what's next. I'm thinking about right now.”

Perhaps the most notable thing about Lurie’s administration is how willing he’s been to leave the confines of Room 200 to get what he wants. The mayor shocked City Hall insiders when, during negotiations for his landmark fentanyl emergency legislation, he showed up at the individual offices of members of the Board of Supervisors. Unannounced. To talk. That’s a strange way to knife fight.

Lurie’s peaceful overtures are also politically practical. While he enjoys a majority of moderate Democrats on the Board of Supervisors right now, carrying a nearly guaranteed 6-5 vote, that ratio isn’t guaranteed throughout his term. Even-numbered seats at the board will be contested in 2026, making now the time to build relationships with progressive Democrats who may hold the power next year. 

And all of his peace-making won’t make a difference if Lurie can’t deliver. The fentanyl crisis rages on, immigrants are frightened by the Trump administration’s aggressive push for deportation, the city is facing an $820 million budget deficit, and the DOGE wrecking ball threatens hundreds of millions in funding owed to San Francisco.

Sitting in the blinding light of Room 200, Lurie said that when he considers the weight of his office, he tries to remember to feel gratitude for serving the city where he was born and raised. “I’ve walked into this building many times over the last 20 years. This building is so beautiful and represents so much,” he said. “It’s really an honor that I don't take lightly.”

Daniel Lurie

Mayor

Because they’ve become a more-than-moderate force in city politics

In just five years, Sachin Agarwal and Steven Buss Bacio have gone from relatively unknown tech workers to directors of the most influential centrist organization in the city, [GrowSF](https://growsf.org/).

Agarwal's two-decade career includes roles at Apple, Twitter, and Lyft, and he was founder of the Y Combinator-backed company Posterous. During the pandemic, he launched GrowSF to advocate for the local economy while responding forcefully to public safety concerns and the drug crisis. Buss Bacio, a former software engineer at Amazon and Google, joined the effort full time in 2021, and the pair slowly made inroads with other moderate political players by providing useful polling on the city’s political shift toward the center.

The group now has perhaps the most influential voter guide, and its decision to endorse all moderate candidates for mayor proved wise. GrowSF maintains a good relationship with Lurie, solidifying that bond by hiring the mayor’s political consultant, Tyler Law, as a senior adviser.

Sachin Agarwal + Steven Buss Bacio

Directors

Because he’s pouring fast-food money into a slow-growth town

Applebee’s and Wendy’s may not be glamorous brands, but Greg Flynn has built a multibillion-dollar real estate empire thanks to those and other familiar chains. His massive franchise operation, Flynn Group, is based in San Francisco, where its founder was born and raised. Since 1999, he has become the world’s largest franchise operator, with more than 2,600 locations in the U.S. and Australia. In addition to Applebee’s and Wendy’s, the firm operates franchises for Panera, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell, Arby’s, and Planet Fitness.

More recently, Flynn has taken to buying distressed San Francisco properties like the Huntington Hotel and 631 Howard St. He is also reportedly considering the purchase of Market Center in downtown San Francisco, a big gamble that could revitalize Market Street. “Not only are we opportunistic investors who think it’s a good time in the cycle to buy, but also we feel like we have a civic obligation to participate in this city’s recovery,” he said.

Greg Flynn

Founder, chairman, and CEO

Because someone had to make the chips that make the chats

As founder and CEO of Nvidia, the company selling pickaxes for San Francisco’s AI gold rush, Jensen Huang holds singular power in the market and the city. Nvidia’s ultra-fast chips give OpenAI the computing power it needs to enable ChatGPT to write marketing emails and Harry Potter fan fic.

Though Nvidia is based in the South Bay, its chips are used by the main players in the AI category (the [surprise release of DeepSeek](https://sfstandard.com/2025/01/27/deepseek-openai-china-us-tech-battle/) notwithstanding): OpenAI, Anthropic, Meta, and Google. Founders [keep moving to San Francisco](https://sfstandard.com/2024/11/19/ai-startup-founders-international-donald-trump/) — and ambitious kids continue to [drop out of high school and college](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/13/founders-dropouts-ycombinator-aiboom-startups/) — to try and [cash in on the AI boom](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/06/startups-grindcore-ai-agents-hayes-cerebral-valley/), making the leather-jacket-wearing Huang a bona fide icon. As befits a gold-rush mogul, Huang has also become a local patron, throwing a [$22.5 million donation](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/20/nvidia-ceo-saves-arts-college-cca/) to the ailing California College of the Arts.


Jensen Huang

Because she’s trying to spur big changes in City Hall

In August, a report from urbanist nonprofit SPUR suggested that the mayor’s office reorganize. That idea was taken up by the Lurie administration — a sign that SPUR had the ear of the sitting city leader. Now, its former CEO, Alicia John-Baptiste, is Daniel Lurie’s infrastructure, climate, and transportation czar. In choosing John-Baptiste, the mayor got someone with decades of City Hall experience _and_ an executive coming from a nonprofit that is hugely influential in the urban policy space. 

In her new role, John-Baptiste oversees some of the departments most crucial for the city’s economic resuscitation: Public Works, with its fleet of street cleaners; the Municipal Transportation Agency, which is facing a financial crisis and might be on the path of cutting bus lines; and Recreation and Parks, which oversees 4,257 acres citywide and brings in loads of tourists who are essential for the city’s economy and global standing.

Alicia John-Baptiste

Chief of infrastructure, climate, and mobility

Because she’s making ballet not just cool, but brat

There’s no denying it: The San Francisco Ballet is cool. The 92-year-old company, which stages eight productions per season, has [become a cultural force](https://sfstandard.com/2024/04/24/san-francisco-ballet-tamara-rojo/) under the leadership of artistic director Tamara Rojo, who took over in late 2022 following the 35-year tenure of Helgi Tómasson. 

The 50-year-old former principal dancer with the Royal Ballet, born in Montreal to Spanish parents, has brought serious star power to the San Francisco Ballet. In January, the company’s black-tie opening gala — as formal an event as this famously casual city’s calendar sees — tapped Ayesha Curry as its honorary chair. In February, the company staged “Cool Britannia,” a trio of one-act ballets by three U.K.-based choreographers, featuring a score by Jack White and costumes by Zac Posen. 

Rojo is eager to reinvigorate the canon. Billed as “Rojo’s Raymonda,” her production of Marius Petipa’s 1898 Russian masterpiece is being sold to subscribers in strikingly contemporary language. “Raymonda,” the [company’s website says](https://www.sfballet.org/productions/raymonda/#:~:text=WHO%20IT'S%20FOR%3A%20Anyone%20who,between%20Raymonda%20and%20her%20admirers.), is for “anyone who is brat.”

“Part of the journey of this company is in finding new audiences,” Rojo said. “It has always been a trailblazer. I think I just add to this tradition, and bring in new voices.”

Tamara Rojo

Artistic director

Because she's reaching moderates without moving to the center 

Like an AOC of the west, Jackie Fielder is a young upstart waving the Democratic Socialist banner at the Board of Supervisors. The freshman legislator has loudly chosen her lane, drafting a law (her first) to put San Francisco on record to back sanctuary city policies against President Trump’s threats. Fielder managed to unite the board to vote unanimously to back her bill, a high hurdle even for veteran lawmakers. 

Fielder has also bucked the stereotype of progressives who care only about high-minded political statements by addressing day-to-day issues in her district, which includes the Mission, Bernal Heights, and Portola. Her push for resources to address [drug markets on 16th and Mission](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/21/the-mission-is-the-new-tenderloin/) resulted in public promises from Mayor Lurie’s administration. 

It wasn’t a total victory, however: Lurie’s vision of addressing open-air drug deals may include more police response and fewer of the mental health resources that Fielder would prefer. San Francisco’s rightward lean might’ve made for a barren political moment for a progressive like Fielder, yet she’s managed to stay true to her beliefs while building coalitions with her more centrist colleagues.

Jackie Fielder

Supervisor

Because he jumped from the frying pan of X into the fire of City Hall

Ned Segal’s connections with Daniel Lurie run deep: The mayor and his top policy chief attended the Town School for Boys together. After a stint at Goldman Sachs, Segal famously served as Twitter's CFO and was unceremoniously shown the door following Elon Musk's chaotic acquisition in 2022. Segal and other top executives filed a lawsuit against Musk, seeking more than $128 million in unpaid severance and alleging that their firings were motivated by an attempt to deny them their golden parachutes. The case is ongoing.

As City Hall’s first-ever chief of housing and economic development, one of several policy chief positions Lurie created upon taking office, Segal serves as an intermediary between departments and the mayor. He’s also something of an enforcer when it comes to dealing with special interests outside of government. 

Early feedback from city staff is that Segal brings a polished, professional approach to doing business in the mayor’s office. Ultimately, though, he’ll be judged by how well he streamlines our famously Kafkaesque business permits and how much housing gets built as the clock ticks away on San Francisco’s mandate for 82,000 new units by 2031.

Ned Segal

Chief of housing and economic development

Because no one else has done more to keep our socialites social

Born and raised in Jefferson County, Virginia, Ken Fulk has both become San Franciscan and encouraged San Francisco to become him. Every corner of the city bears evidence of the interior designer’s touch. The scene-y Tosca Cafe, the glamorous Rincon Hill high-rise The Harrison, the cathedral-like St. Joseph’s Arts Society, the members-only club The Battery — even Muttville, a cage-free senior dog rescue — have benefited from his magical, whimsical designs. No wonder his client list includes everyone from former Vice President Kamala Harris to Instagram cofounder Kevin Systrom. Napster founder Sean Parker famously hired Fulk to design an eight-figure “[Lord of the Rings”-inspired wedding](https://www.vanityfair.com/news/2013/09/photos-sean-parker-wedding?srsltid=AfmBOopxbMofimvClKyydTnIXMGXgXcNRd-XCo2D8ivPiGyxcRCd6dRn) that generated at least [$2.5 million in fines](https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2018/12/14/how-does-tech-billionaire-say-sorry-his-unauthorized-wedding-theres-an-app-that/).

Fulk last year put up for sale the 100-year-old furniture factory in SoMa he called home — and used to host his [infamously debaucherous parties](https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/30/wild-as-fulk-as-the-designers-soma-loft-hits-the-market-a-look-back-at-its-epic-parties/) — but he’s keeping the festivities going at St. Joseph’s, the gallery/event space he opened in 2018. (The revamped church was the site of a recent [private concert by Rufus Wainwright](https://sfstandard.com/2025/02/14/rufus-wainwright-gold-membership-private-concert/), hosted by The Standard.) San Francisco may be sleepy, but with Fulk around, it’s a lot less dull.

Ken Fulk

Creative director

Because food trends change, but classics don’t have to

There is nothing snobbish about siblings John and Elena Duggan, and that’s the secret to their wild success as empire builders. In a city that has raised food to an object of worship, the third-generation restaurateurs, whose [grandfather started Original Joe’s](https://sfstandard.com/2024/09/09/original-joes-family-restaurants/) in 1937, have built their Italian American fiefdom on healthy portions, old-school service, and an unabashed commitment to comfort. 

That empire now includes two Original Joe’s, two Little Original Joe’s (LOJ, to insiders), and Elena’s, a Mexican restaurant in West Portal. On a Friday night, Elena’s does around 450 covers, while Original Joe’s in North Beach cycles almost 700 guests through its doors. And yet, angling for a reservation at any of these spots is Michelin-level challenging. 

The Duggans’ expansion plans started in 2020 — not the most auspicious time for restaurants, but the gamble paid off. Up next? A 9,000-square-foot, 300-seat Original Joe’s in Walnut Creek.

John + Elena Duggan

Owners

Because he leads the leaders in medical breakthroughs

In what was once a building of empty patient wards on the eastern edge of San Francisco is a state-of-the-art research hub where more than 600 scientists in 30 labs are churning out breakthroughs in neurology, cardiology, immunology, and virology. It’s called [Gladstone Institutes](https://gladstone.org/). And at the helm is Dr. Deepak Srivastava.

Srivastava became Gladstone’s CEO in 2018. Before that, he was a pediatric cardiologist and founder of biopharmaceutical companies Tenaya Therapeutics and iPierian. He has become one of San Francisco’s most influential figures in scientific research for deciding the funding and focus of dozens of labs working on immunology, stem cells, neurodegenerative diseases, HIV, and cancer. 

One example: Srivastava and his team figured out how to turn [scar-forming cells into beating heart cells](https://www.science.org/content/article/turning-scar-tissue-beating-heart) to address heart disease. “We found that if you send the right cues into those cells, you could completely change their fate,” Gladstone said. “You could turn different genes on and off right where they are; you can basically regenerate from within.”

Advances in AI have kicked discoveries into overdrive at Gladstone, where Srivastava dedicated one of two new institutes to the technology, which is being used to comb through millions of digital health records more efficiently than ever. Using AI, researchers discovered that bumetanide, a commonly used diuretic, may reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s disease by 70%. 

While the convergence of machine learning, gene editing, and stem cell studies is leading to groundbreaking revelations, biomedical research faces an uncertain future because of [cuts to the federal funding](https://sfstandard.com/2025/03/07/berkeley-ucsf-scientists-protest-trump-funding-cuts/) that makes much of the work at Gladstone possible.

“Just when we have greater opportunity than ever to impact human disease, we’re faced with having to slow down our science,” Srivastava said. “That’s horrible.”

Though a judge [prevented the Trump administration from reneging](https://apnews.com/article/trump-nih-medical-research-funding-cut-indirect-costs-e7629d0d45d141b2ac47c54550411aff) on previously negotiated “indirect costs” for National Institutes of Health funding, new grants have functionally stalled. “It’s gumming up the system,” Srivastava said, “and slowing down progress at a moment when we should be putting the pedal to the metal and accelerating. Because every day we go slower is a day that more people die of disease.”

Deepak Srivastava

Because a socialite can also be a grassroots advocate

Gorretti Lo Lui moves seamlessly between high society and community advocacy. A member of the Hong Kong tycoon Lui family, she has served on prestigious boards in San Francisco, including the SF Symphony, War Memorial and Performing Arts Center, and Asian Art Museum, putting her at the intersection of community work, local politics, philanthropy, and U.S.-China relations. 

Lui does more than write checks, showing up to work with small organizations like the Chinese Historical Society of America and the Rose Pak Community Fund to leverage her considerable resources and connections to advocate for the Bay Area’s Chinese community.

While generally avoiding headlines, Lui made news when former Mayor London Breed [attended her 60th birthday party at the French Laundry in 2020](https://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/heatherknight/article/S-F-Mayor-London-Breed-had-her-own-French-15767506.php), despite pandemic restrictions on indoor gatherings. Lui handled the attention with characteristic understatement: “Now the worst damage for me is everyone knows my age.”

Gorretti Lo Lui

Director

Because the VC went all in on Trump and was rewarded bigly

Investor and “All-In” podcaster David Sacks became SF’s loudest and proudest conservative last summer when he hosted a fundraiser for Donald Trump at his Pacific Heights mansion that [raked in $13 million](https://sfstandard.com/2024/12/10/allin-podcast-trump-holiday-party/). It came as no surprise, then, that Trump rewarded Sacks by making him leader of the presidential council of advisers for science and technology and the administration’s so-called AI and crypto czar. 

Sacks’ MAGA world power was best exemplified on inauguration weekend, when he hosted a VIP reception with tickets ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Sacks spent the rest of the weekend euphorically [celebrating his rising stock](https://www.nytimes.com/2025/01/16/us/politics/trump-tech-inauguration-parties.html) inside the GOP at fellow PayPal capo Peter Thiel’s exclusive black-tie party and at a private blowout with his “All-In” “besties” Chamath Palihapitiya, David Friedberg, and Jason Calacanis. Sacks is now the direct line between D.C. and Silicon Valley, working with lawmakers to pass a regulatory framework for “[creating a golden age in digital assets](https://www.cnbc.com/2024/10/21/ripple-founder-has-given-more-than-11point8-million-to-harris-campaign.html).”

David Sacks

General partner

Because he inspires in the kitchen and everywhere else he goes

Michelin-starred Mister Jiu’s chef Brandon Jew is everywhere: Hosting a Lunar New Year party with Mission Chinese’s Danny Bowien (Mayor Daniel Lurie stopped by); whipping up congee on a $6,000 induction cooktop for Impulse Labs; using an air compressor to prepare Peking duck for a Capital One-sponsored Eater video; casually leaning against a bar to promote his food guide for Banana Republic. In August, Jew was tapped by Alaska Airlines to cook black cod with silken tofu and slow-braised Liberty Ducks for first-class passengers.

It’s been nearly a decade since Jew opened Mister Jiu’s, his contemporary Chinese American restaurant in the Chinatown space once occupied by Four Seas. Since then, he has forged a path for other young, ambitious chefs, like the crew at [Four Kings](https://sfstandard.com/2024/05/13/rising-royalty-of-the-restaurant-scene-the-four-kings-is-hot-for-a-reason/), who are celebrating their Chinese American roots and bolstering the neighborhood.


Laurence Ion