Airbnb exec donates $100 million to San Francisco parks

From the article:

San Francisco mayor Daniel Lurie announced on Monday that Airbnb CEO Brian Chesky is donating $100 million to the city’s parks.

The donation to the department represents the largest donation in the city by a single donor, Lurie said at a press conference at Golden Gate Park’s Conservatory of Flowers.

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Chesky co-founded short-term rental company Airbnb in 2008, and the company is currently worth $100 billion. According to Forbes, Chesky’s personal net worth is over $13 billion.

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Chesky’s donation strikes a somewhat friendlier tone today between Airbnb and the city than in the past. While Lurie’s predecessor, London Breed, was in office, the company launched a $120 million lawsuit against San Francisco, claiming the city had incorrectly calculated what the company owed in taxes.

The suit, which led the city’s labor unions, advocacy groups and some elected officials to call for an Airbnb boycott, was settled earlier this year for $0.

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That first portion has been committed to five projects already underway, Madland said. That includes $39 million headed to Rachele Sullivan Park in SoMa, renovations at Jackson Hill Playground in Potrero Hill, keeping Garfield Pool in the Mission open on Sundays, renovations at the Embarcadero and completing India Basin Waterfront Park in Hunters Point.

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The department plans to spend the next year deciding where the second half of the money will go, according to Madland. Any money coming to the department must first be reviewed and approved by the Board of Supervisors.

Donations to the parks department are common, Madland said, so much so that the agency has actually received around $300 million in the last 15 years.