Former eBay Inc. CEO Meg Whitman has officially announced her candidacy for governor of California. She's one of three serious Republican contenders to replace outgoing Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, according to media reports. What's more interesting -- for dealmakers at least -- she's actually the second Silicon Valley entrepreneur seeking the Republican ticket. The other is California Insurance Commissioner Steve Poizner, who has founded several tech startups.
While Poizner may not offer the same wow factor for the masses, his personal fortune may allow him to keep pace with Whitman, who is reportedly worth more than a $1 billion, making her perhaps the wealthiest of candidates.
Continue reading below
While the eBay story is better known (for those who don't know,
Whitman built the online auction site into a major dot-com powerhouse
from 1998 to 2008), Poizner made his fortune in developing commercial
applications for GPS. After running a small digital mapping company,
Strategic Mapping Inc., from 1983 to 1995, he sold the company and then
launched SnapTrack Inc., a developer of wireless location-based
applications for mobile phones. He sold
SnapTrack to Qualcomm Inc. in 2000 for $1 billion. Poizner then entered
politics in 2006 when he ran for California State Insurance commissioner.
While Poizner has already cut his teeth in an election, Whitman is
no stranger to the campaign trail having first campaigned for
dealmaker-turned-politician Mitt Romney during the 2008 presidential
primaries and then for the McCain-Palin ticket in the fall.
With two of Silicon Valley's own running, it is a safe bet that
their campaigns will continue the recent trend of using social
networking as a means to drum up support. In fact both candidates
already have Facebook groups. - Matthew Wurtzel
See story from the Los Angeles Times
Comments
And what will another Republican have to offer but more Social Darwinism? The problem with Right-wing ideology is that at its core lies the idea that it's morally acceptable to let poor people starve to death. This has always been the fundamental principle. Well, thanks, but no thanks. If you're not for the People, do society a favor and stay home.