• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026

1

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that

2

The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises

3

Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
FinanceReal Estate

Newsom’s call to sweep homeless encampments caught the eye of a Silicon Valley billionaire 

By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Alena Botros
Alena Botros
Former staff writer
Down Arrow Button Icon
July 26, 2024, 2:21 PM ET
Vinod Khosla
Vinod KhoslaSteven Ferdman—Getty Images

Yesterday, California Gov. Gavin Newsom issued an executive order for the removal of homeless encampments throughout the Golden State. The move came in the aftermath of a recent Supreme Court ruling allowing cities to not only ban people from sleeping on the street, but to fine and arrest them. And it caught the attention of a particularly wealthy constituent. 

Recommended Video

In response to a post on X from Newsom, which read: “No more excuses. We’ve provided the time. We’ve provided the funds. Now it’s time for locals to do their job,” Silicon Valley billionaire and venture capitalist, Vinod Khosla, sort of agreed. 

“Agree but if, and only if, we provide them an alternative location to sleep,” Khosla wrote. “We are rich enough as a society to afford this level of caring if the left ‘do-gooders’ don’t create expensive ‘minimal standards’ that make this unaffordable. It should be better than a street tent, with a place to go to the bathroom and shower, transport to jobs so the homeless can get a job. If so, cost of homelessness will decline. Mental health homeless folks should be treated separately/differently. Meritocracy is great as long as we take care of those who are temporarily or permanently disadvantaged in some way and cannot take care of themselves. The minimum level of care should be based on affordability by society and hence GDP growth.”

It’s not shocking to hear from the cofounder of Sun Microsystems, because Khosla can be outspoken. Earlier this week, he and Elon Musk sparred on social media over presidential candidates; Khosla happens to be a Democratic donor, while Musk has been very vocal in his support of a Donald Trump, J.D. Vance ticket. But, you might remember, Khosla is in the midst of a housing kerfuffle himself. 

In 2008, Khosla purchased an extensive beachfront property in San Mateo for $32.5 million, and gated off a road to Martins Beach, pretty much closing it to the public. In the beginning of 2020, according to the California State Lands Commission, which along with other state agencies sued Khosla (through his LLC), he put up signs that read “No Trespassing” and even hired security guards. 

Several lawsuits and years later, and after an appeal the Supreme Court declined to consider, crescent-shaped Martins Beach seemed to be ready for the people again. But the battle wasn’t over, and it’s heading to trial. In a New York Times story published in 2018, titled “Every Generation Gets the Beach Villain It Deserves,” Khosla said he wished he’d never bought the beach house but wouldn’t pull out of the fight out of principle. A few months earlier, in a Medium post, Khosla denied free public access to Martins Beach existed, saying that it hasn’t been that way in close to a century; he also stressed that he was fighting back against government overreach. 

“The dispute here is about private property rights and exercising those rights, it is not about billionaires or green investors, which are loaded words used to sensationalize the reporting,” he wrote. “It is a matter of principles of property rights and appropriate state behavior.”

Khosla Ventures did not immediately respond to Fortune’s request for comment. 

Where will California’s unhoused people go?

Nevertheless, it’s not clear where unhoused people will go following Newsom’s executive order, and there aren’t enough shelter beds. In a release, the governor’s office called for “state agencies and departments to adopt humane and dignified policies to urgently address encampments on state property, including by taking necessary and deliberate steps to notify and support the people inhabiting the encampment prior to removal.” On a single night in January last year, there were more than 180,000 people experiencing homelessness in California; the state accounted for almost half of all unsheltered people in the country. 

It’s no secret why that is, although there are several factors at play, one clearly being sky-high housing costs. California rents and home prices outpace national numbers by far; it is the epicenter of the country’s housing crisis. Decades of policy failure led to California’s crisis, fueled by unfettered local control, curbing development. Newsom’s office touts that it’s dedicated $24 billion to addressing the housing crisis and “helped lift more than 165,000 people out of homelessness and into interim or permanent housing.”

And it’s difficult to ignore the time Newsom’s executive order has come in. All eyes are on him in an election year, despite his putting his full force behind President Joe Biden, and now Vice President Kamala Harris, who could be the Democratic nominee, amid speculation he’s vying for the executive office. Not to mention, Los Angeles is set to host eight matches for the World Cup two years from now, and it’ll also be the destination for the Summer Olympics four years from now. Just consider how San Francisco gave its streets a makeover ahead of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation meetings last fall. 

Join us at the Fortune Workplace Innovation Summit May 19–20, 2026, in Atlanta. The next era of workplace innovation is here—and the old playbook is being rewritten. At this exclusive, high-energy event, the world’s most innovative leaders will convene to explore how AI, humanity, and strategy converge to redefine, again, the future of work. Register now.
About the Author
By Alena BotrosFormer staff writer
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon

Alena Botros is a former reporter at Fortune, where she primarily covered real estate.

See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in Finance

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

Latest in Finance

tom
SuccessEntrepreneurs
Top Chef’s Tom Colicchio got a 15x return on a tech company most Americans have never heard of. He thinks his own industry is broken
By Nick LichtenbergMay 16, 2026
2 hours ago
bhaskar
Economydisruption
The prophet of the ‘Wired Belt’ says capitalism is finally eating itself
By Bhaskar ChakravortiMay 16, 2026
3 hours ago
cyborg
Future of WorkProductivity
AI’s cyborg problem: you have to embrace it to really succeed but 90% of people can’t or don’t want to
By Nick LichtenbergMay 16, 2026
4 hours ago
greg
Personal FinanceAviation
Mamdani’s New York is coming to tax your private jet. Here’s how to prepare
By Greg RaiffMay 16, 2026
4 hours ago
Mark Zuckerberg, chief executive officer of Meta Platforms Inc., left, and US President Donald Trump during a dinner with tech leaders in the State Dining Room of the White House in Washington, DC, US, on Thursday, Sept. 4, 2025. US President Donald Trump said he would be imposing tariffs on semiconductor imports "very shortly" but spare goods from companies like Apple Inc. that have pledged to boost their US investments. Photographer: Will Oliver/EPA/Bloomberg via Getty Images
Big TechDonald Trump
How Trump’s ‘unusual’ brokerage account traded around his own market-moving decisions—selling hyperscalers and buying energy stocks during the war
By Eva RoytburgMay 15, 2026
13 hours ago
Berkshire triples Alphabet stake and buys Delta stock while dumping Amazon in Greg Abel’s first quarter as CEO
InvestingBerkshire Hathaway
Berkshire triples Alphabet stake and buys Delta stock while dumping Amazon in Greg Abel’s first quarter as CEO
By Josh Funk and The Associated PressMay 15, 2026
14 hours ago

Most Popular

Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
Success
Despite having a $165 million net worth, Scarlett Johansson says work-life balance doesn’t exist—and the first step to success is admitting that
By Preston ForeMay 13, 2026
3 days ago
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
Politics
The Bezos family just donated $100 million to help achieve one of Mayor Zohran Mamdani’s top campaign promises
By Jake AngeloMay 12, 2026
4 days ago
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
Personal Finance
Current price of oil as of May 15, 2026
By Joseph HostetlerMay 15, 2026
1 day ago
Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents have to find a new power source after their energy source looks to redirect lines to data centers
Travel & Leisure
Nearly 50,000 Lake Tahoe residents have to find a new power source after their energy source looks to redirect lines to data centers
By Catherina GioinoMay 12, 2026
4 days ago
The airplane fuel shortage is a myth propagated by airlines who want to cancel unprofitable flights, says private jet CEO
Energy
The airplane fuel shortage is a myth propagated by airlines who want to cancel unprofitable flights, says private jet CEO
By Jim EdwardsMay 14, 2026
2 days ago
Top economist says $39 trillion national debt leaves government worse prepared for recession than ever
Economy
Top economist says $39 trillion national debt leaves government worse prepared for recession than ever
By Eva RoytburgMay 14, 2026
2 days ago

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.