SAN FRANCISCO
Lee Heidhues 3.30.2025
San Francisco billionaire Mayor Daniel Lurie may want the folks to believe he’s just one of the gang. Like everybody else. It ain’t true. The Levi Strauss & Co. scion is San Francisco economic royalty at his core.
San Francisco traded in London Breed, born and raised in the Western addition housing projects across the proverbial tracks from Pacific Heights, for a Mayor dripping wealth and entitlement from the moment he was born in that enclave of old school privilege.
It comes as no surprise that Daniel Lurie is buddies with the likes of JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. He keeps this relationship quiet as feasibly possible in the hot house cauldron of San Francisco political gossip.
Excerpted from San Francisco Standard – Power Play – 3.30.2025
MONTANA MAGA FEST: On Thursday, former political operative Yashar Ali tweeted what he said was a confidential schedule for a two-day JP Morgan Chase tech summit in Montana. The lineup, per Ali, was packed with MAGA all-stars: Elon Musk; AI and crypto czar David Sacks; Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick; Secretary of the Interior Doug Burgum; and President Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner. Oh, and Tom Brady, of course.
In between talks titled “DOGE: Sources and Uses” and ”Decoding the Trump Playbook,” our very own Mayor Daniel Lurie and ex-Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa were listed as speakers on a panel about “Rebuilding America’s Urban Glory,” moderated by actress and Goop CEO Gwyneth Paltrow.
But that wasn’t the weird part. Reached for comment, Lurie’s new communications director, Han Zou, stubbornly refused to say whether Lurie was taking part in the conference, even by video. A spokesperson for JP Morgan declined to confirm if Lurie took part in the summit.
It’s unclear if Lurie knew the reported JP Morgan event would feature so many Trump die-hards, but his love of JP Morgan is well-known.
In January, the mayor and his policy chief Ned Segal met with JP Morgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon at City Hall during the investment firm’s annual healthcare conference in San Francisco. In an interview that week, Lurie boasted to Mad Money’s Jim Cramer that he’d met with corporate bigwigs like Blackstone executive Jonathan Gray, pitching himself as a pro-business mayor eager to lure companies back to town.
So why the secrecy now? After all, just because Lurie reportedly joined a conference full of MAGA men doesn’t mean he is one. The mayor has had little to say about Trump’s attacks on immigrants, transgender people, the First Amendment, the judicial system, and federal workers — we could go on — but has pledged to stand up for San Francisco values.
At an event Friday honoring Wong Kim Ark, the San Franciscan who fought to enshrine birthright citizenship in the Constitution in the 1800s, Lurie offered pro-immigration platitudes and said people born in the U.S. “belong here.” Asked about the JP Morgan conference, Lurie said through an aide that he would only talk about Wong Kim Ark at the rally, declining to answer other questions.
Former Mayor London Breed and Jamie Dimon had a frosty relationship
J.P. Morgan is holding an invitation-only tech summit in Montana, targeting top clients, corporate and government leaders, and institutional investors, with notable conversations and panels including top Trump administration officials.
Here’s a more detailed breakdown:
- Event: J.P. Morgan Tech Summit.
- Location: Montana.
- Target Audience: Top clients, corporate and government leaders, and institutional investors.
- Focus: The summit is focused on technology and innovation.
- Notable Conversations: Some notable conversations and panels include top Trump administration officials.
- Nature of Event: The summit is an invitation-only event.
- Other J.P. Morgan Events: J.P. Morgan also hosts other events, including the Clean Tech Stars Conference.
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