There are a number of revelations in an extensive new profile of billionaire philanthropist and political activist Michael Moritz by Mission Local's Joe Eskenazi,  including what he sees as the trajectory of his political group, Together SF Action.

This fairly even-handed profile landed today on Mission Local, and it's the first time since Michael Moritz has been throwing his considerable money around in San Francisco politics, and since he funded the launch of the San Francisco Standard in 2021, that he's sat down for such an extensive profile. It's also the first time that a journalist has attempted to get a full picture of Moritz and his broad range of activities and causes — as Eskenazi writes, "Moritz, physically and metaphysically, contains multitudes."

Moritz just celebrated his 70th birthday, complete with celebrity musical entertainment by John Batiste and a motley collection of guests from various ends of the political spectrum at Davies Symphony Hall. And while he has never publicly discussed the "incurable" medical condition he has that was reportedly terminal, he tells Eskenazi that his prognosis was he would never live to see 70. The condition was first reported on in 2012 when he "stepped back" from day-to-day management duties at Sequoia capital, but he continued in a limited role at the firm until last year, when he fully retired — capping a "storybook" career that took him from journalism to the upper echelons of venture capital, building enormous wealth by getting in early on companies like Apple, PayPal, and Google.

We learn that, despite his bluster in a pair of New York Times op-eds in the past 20 months — one about how progressives are destroying San Francisco, and one aimed squarely at one progressive, Aaron Peskin — he is not a seeker of personal attention or praise, even though he seems to have sought out a knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II (he donated $150 million to Oxford University in 2013, and Peskin suggests he thus "paid" for his knighthood).

We also learn that he's a longtime friend of former SF Mayor Art Agnos, an avowed progressive, who says that Moritz doesn't mind taking criticism for things like that asinine and arrogant plan to plop a new city in the middle of Solano County that will somehow be the utopian answer to all the Bay Area's woes.

"When you represent the kind of wealth he and his group represent, you don’t secretly assemble thousands of acres and secretly plan a city and then say ‘Hey folks! Have we got a deal for you!'" says Agnos of the California Forever plan.

And Agnos admits that Moritz is full of contradictions, when it comes to his political giving, and otherwise. "What’s wrong with contradictions? You’re looking for consistency? That’s your problem," Agnos tells Mission Local.

Moritz is a friend and supporter of former District Attorney Chesa Boudin, and personally opposed the recall effort against him. However Boudin points out, to Mission Local, "A lot of people involved in TogetherSF were actively involved in promoting my recall."

How does that square with Moritz being all in for Mark Farrell, who has framed himself as the most anti-Boudin, pro-law-and-order candidate in the mayor's race?

We already knew that Moritz was also all in for Prop D, and he wants to dismantle the web of city commissions that he thinks are a drain and an obstacle to good governance. But as Eskenazi writes, Prop D would dismantle things like the Juvenile Probation Commission, which is run by a longtime friend of Moritz's, and it would ironically give more power to the Board of Supervisors, which Moritz thinks has too much power.

It also doesn't really square with Moritz's purportedly Democratic values and philanthropy for the underprivileged that he has opposed two state propositions that would have taxed the wealthy, like him, to fund progressive initiatives. As Peskin wrote in a retort in the Chronicle last week, "He opposed Prop 82, which aimed to tax incomes over $400,000 to fund universal preschool across California. He opposed Prop 30, which proposed taxing incomes over $2 million to fund electric vehicles and wildfire prevention."

Another revelation in the piece is that the San Francisco Standard — which can't be much of a for-profit enterprise with a staff of 60, 19 of them editors — is planning to flip to a subscription model after the election. And as for funding it and/or Together SF Action, Moritz says he won't stop throwing money at them for "five or six years." As Eskenazi notes, "That’s not quite the long haul, but it’s plenty of time to make and unmake a great deal in this city."

This election, too, will show just how far a billionaire's money goes in getting candidates elected and propositions passed. According to its own mission, Together SF Action is hoping to put two or three measures on the ballot in every election cycle, in order to remake the city into something closer to what Moritz thinks works — which may or may not be akin to how the best tech companies work, since those were his bread and butter for many years, and picking winners was how he made his fortune.

But is running a large and complicated city like running a company? Most will tell you, no.

Previously: Billionaire-Funded Group Linked to That 'Fentalife' Ad Campaign Commissions Report on City Hall's Failures

Top image: Sir Michael Moritz poses after receiving a Knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II during an Investiture ceremony at Buckingham Palace on October 30, 2013 London, England. (Photo by Sean Dempsey - WPA Pool/Getty Images)