Emily Shugerman
@eshugs.bsky.social
wealth and power reporter @sfstandard.com // previously @thedailybeast.bsky.social @the-independent.com. email me: eshugerman@sfstandard.com
Peter Thiel gets roasted to hell & back in this amazing @sfstandard.com story. Pro Tip: Thiel should fire his entire staff—and all of his dumb friends—for allowing him to pursue this fanatical fiasco! Great reporting by @eshugs.bsky.social and Garrett Leahy. sfstandard.com/2025/09/16/p...
Peter Thiel Antichrist lecture: We asked guests what the hell it is
We didn’t get a ticket to see Peter Thiel talk, but we did speak with attendees about what the hell happened.
sfstandard.com
My favorite part of this story: OpenAI suggested that one of the groups opposing it was being funded by Elon Musk because the group's president lived in a house owned by Tesla Place, LLC. So we called the owners.
Emily Shugerman@eshugs.bsky.social · last yr.NEW: OpenAI has been claiming for months now that the groups opposed to its for-profit transition are secretly backed by billionaires. We examined the evidence. sfstandard.com/2025/09/02/o...
NEW: OpenAI has been claiming for months now that the groups opposed to its for-profit transition are secretly backed by billionaires. We examined the evidence. sfstandard.com/2025/09/02/o...
OpenAI thinks its critics are funded by billionaires. Now it’s going after them
The multibillion-dollar AI giant thinks it's critics are part of a billionaire conspiracy. We examined the evidence
sfstandard.com
"Across nearly every example, there’s proof that the Giving Pledge is unfulfilled, unfulfillable, and not our ticket to a fairer, better future." sfstandard.com/2025/07/30/g...
America's billionaires promised to give away their money 15 years ago. How's that going? - The San Francisco Standard
Only one local bigwig is even close to giving away half their wealth.
sfstandard.com
“The dumbest, most tech-brained garbage idea I’ve ever heard of.” “Like a robot trying to conduct an orchestra...” Don't miss @eshugs.bsky.social on the “broke startup founder” who wants Trump to declare a national security emergency and give him part of Alameda. sfstandard.com/2025/06/16/f...
This startup bro has a modest proposal for Trump: Give me part of Alameda - The San Francisco Standard
James Ingallinera wants the president to hand over control of Alameda Point so he can build an AI utopia.
sfstandard.com
a thread of the biggest revelations from our new piece on the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, starting with Priscilla Chan tearing up talking about watching "the peaceful transfer of power" at Trump's inauguration
The inside story of how the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative lost its way featuring interviews with more than a insiders, taped meetings, and how Priscilla responded to attending the inauguration sfstandard.com/2025/06/09/c...
How politics and PR took over the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative
Current and former staffers spill on what brought Mark Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan's personal philanthropy to abandon its progressive values
sfstandard.com
“They just said they were cutting back, but everybody knows what happened,” one grantee told me. “Mark Zuckerberg needs something from the president of the United States. … These cuts are part of Mark Zuckerberg fighting for his No. 1, which is his bottom line.”
Emily Shugerman@eshugs.bsky.social · last yr.Nonprofits are seeing their budgets slashed as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pivots hard away from "social advocacy" “They are making sure to cut anything that would sound or even be construed as DEI-esque,” one former employee told us. sfstandard.com/2025/05/13/n...
Nonprofits are seeing their budgets slashed as the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative pivots hard away from "social advocacy" “They are making sure to cut anything that would sound or even be construed as DEI-esque,” one former employee told us. sfstandard.com/2025/05/13/n...
‘Devastating:’ Chan Zuckerberg Initiative slashes funding for more Bay Area non-profits
“They are making sure to cut anything that would sound or even be construed as DEI-esque,” one former employee said.
sfstandard.com
“It was highly publicized as a gift to the community,” she said. “They were already taking our homes because of Facebook, landlords pricing us out. Now they’re gonna take this away too. It seems unfair.” via @eshugs.bsky.social & Garrett Leahy
‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds
"It's a shock," one parent said. "It was our pride and joy to say our family went to the Primary School."
sfstandard.com
‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds
‘A slap to the face’: Families say Zuckerberg-backed school to close as couple pulls funds
Families said they learned that the tech couple was moving its money elsewhere, forcing the Primary School to close, in a Zoom call last week.
sfstandard.com
The son of a Silicon Valley billionaire tells @sfstandard.com why he wrote a scathing novel about growing up rich — and why it definitely is not about his dad sfstandard.com/2025/04/07/j...
Silicon Valley 'nepo baby' writes scathing novel about growing up rich - The San Francisco Standard
In “Smokebirds,” Daniel Breyer sets out to skewer nepo babies. The irony is not lost on him.
sfstandard.com
Once known as DJ Wizard, his latest trick is selling you a flying car
Once known as DJ Wizard, his latest trick is selling you a flying car
Jim Dukhovny was a nightclub promoter. Now he’s building a viral futuristic vehicle he claims will ‘fix the world.'
sfstandard.com
wrote about how everyone at the "abundance" book tour is horny for ezra klein sfstandard.com/2025/03/27/e...
Ezra Klein's groupies turn out in abundance for a night of hot wonk action
Hundreds of San Franciscans swarmed the Sydney Goldstein Theater Wednesday to think deeply about housing policy and deregulation — and to thirst after Ezra Klein.
sfstandard.com
One student said community members had been offering up their homes to students with nowhere else to go during spring break. “It’s crazy to say, but people are opening their doors to students who are concerned about this in a way that’s similar to Nazi Germany,” she said.
The San Francisco Standard@sfstandard.com · 2y agoUC Berkeley tells foreign students leaving for spring break they may not be able to return
“This was such a gut punch of an election for so many Democratic donors,” one Democratic advisor told The Standard. “A number of the people I’ve talked to were just like, ‘What the fuck did I burn all that money for?’” sfstandard.com/2025/03/15/d...
Democrat donors fume in San Francisco as party charts new path
One Democratic advisor said wealthy donors are still thinking, “What the fuck did I burn all that money for?”
sfstandard.com
Talked to Airbnb hosts who are fleeing the platform over co-founder Joe Gebbia reportedly joining DOGE. “I don’t want to be a part of an organization that’s generating profit for someone that’s destroying the government and destroying my community,” one said. sfstandard.com/2025/02/20/a...
Airbnb hosts are quitting the site over DOGE association
Longtime Airbnb hosts say they want nothing to do with Airbnb now that co-founder Joe Gebbia is reportedly joining Elon Musk’s government initiative
sfstandard.com
particularly proud of my photography work on this one
The San Francisco Standard@sfstandard.com · 2y agoWatching Trump’s inauguration with SF’s emboldened MAGA techies
Insiders who bought $1m tickets to David Sack’s VIP "Crypto Ball" reception get a gift with purchase—a guaranteed dinner with Donald Trump sfstandard.com/2025/01/17/t...
SF’s biggest Trumper is selling dinner with the Donald for $1 million
Crypto insiders who bought tickets to David Sack’s VIP reception get a gift with purchase.
sfstandard.com
Wrote about how Time staffers are souring on their owner, Marc Benioff, as cozies up to Trump As one asked: “How are we as journalists supposed to do our jobs when that is the look he’s putting out there?” sfstandard.com/2025/01/06/a...
Marc Benioff’s embrace of Trump has Time staffers freaking out
Time staffers are growing increasingly anxious about all of owner Marc Benioff's tweets about Donald Trump.
sfstandard.com
having a fun first week at work!!
Gil Durán@gilduran.com · 2y ago"While many initially suspected the shooter would be a Bernie Sanders-style leftist, Mangione’s social media feeds reveal an Ivy League-educated tech bro who disavows 'wokeism' and venerates Elon Musk. important read by @eshugs.bsky.social in the @sfstandard.com sfstandard.com/2024/12/10/t...
