One of Elon Musk’s closest friends, Airbnb’s billionaire co-founder, said Musk would carry out his willingness to reduce federal bureaucracy, according to those with knowledge of the matter. He plays a role in President Trump’s administration to support him.
Airbnb co-founder Joe Gebbia is a Tesla board member and Tesla’s chief executive Musk maintains a large compound. He plans to start soon with the federal government as part of Musk’s team, according to those with knowledge of the matter.
It is not clear what Gebvia will do, or how formal his role is. Many members of Musk’s government overreport efforts float to the institution depending on the tasks of the day. Many of them consider their center of gravity to be the HR or General Services Bureau.
Early Friday morning, Gebvier arrived in downtown Washington, DC at OPM at the headquarters of a black SUV with three security details. He refused to comment as he was escorted inside by OPM officials and one of his bodyguards.
Musk and his allies have taken over US digital services and have now been renamed “US Doge Services.” The agency was established in 2014 to modify federal online services. Many of his foot soldiers are young software engineers with no government experience to parachute them to federal agencies that are trying to overhaul or dismantle them.
Gebvier was a Democratic donor until recently, spending more than $200,000 each to boost Hillary Clinton and Joe Biden in the 2016 and 2020 general elections, and to help Biden reelection in 2023. I spent $20,000 on.
Gebvia said his politics shifted to the Republican Party in the defense of Robert F. Kennedy Jr., whom Gebvia considers it a political alliance. Gebvier attended Kennedy’s confirmation hearing last month, writing that morning it was “a big day ahead for the future of America’s health.”
Gebvia did not immediately respond to a request for comment Thursday evening.
Trump has embraced tech industry leaders and donors, and has been gathering around him since many in Silicon Valley won the presidency.
In a post from X before Trump took office, Gebvia said he voted for a Democrat who returned to Algoa in 2000, but admitted to supporting Trump in November. “I did something bad. I’d hate to do something younger than me. What a small number of people (and maybe Batedo) know: I voted for Republican last November.” he wrote, referring to Tiktok’s parents.
Gevia’s net worth is approaching $9 billion thanks to a shares in Airbnb, which he co-founded in 2008, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index. Relationship with former President Barack Obama. But of the three founders, Gebvia is considered to be the most interested in politics. He was originally the company’s chief product officer and gradually moved away from the company’s operations to focus on personal pursuits, including stakes in NBA team San Antonio Spurs. He remains on the Airbnb board of directors.
With a background similar to that of Cesky, Gebvia has become one of Musk’s closest friends in recent years. Musk is discussing buying a house from Gebvia’s new startup, Samara, and Gebvia’s texts to Mask appeared in a recent mask-related lawsuit. Musk frequently works with Gebvia on X.
Gebvier also wrote in X that he brilliantly posted about Musk’s new project in Washington, writing that there was “historic corporate turnaround: Doge” shortly after the election. This week he praised the mask team’s efforts to recover the $80 million that the Federal Emergency Management Agency sent to New York City to cover some of the costs of housing immigration.
Kate Conger contributed the report.
