In a farewell address to the nation, President Joe Biden issued a stern warning against a rising “tech-industrial complex,” an “oligarchy . . . taking shape in America,” and a concentration of “extreme wealth, power and influence that threatens our entire democracy.”

If left unchecked, the president went on, this tech-oligarchy jeopardizes “our basic rights and freedoms and a fair shot for everyone to get ahead.”

Biden’s comments, a bit late and more than a dollar short, were a clear shot at billionaire Elon Musk and the tech barons now surrounding President Donald Trump. Simply being extremely wealthy does not an oligarch make; undue influence does. Musk is a classic example, acting on Trump’s behalf by taking calls with foreign leaders and heading up the newly formed Department of Government Efficiency, while holding no official government position. Some have gone so far as to call him co-president. This, in addition to being a useful frame for understanding Musk’s role, apparently has the added benefit of infuriating Trump.

The alliance between Trump and the tech oligarchs, termed “broligarchs” by some, should come as no surprise to those paying close attention to San Francisco politics. Although the city is considered a liberal bastion, the truth is far more complicated. San Francisco  has long been defined by cultural liberalism and relatively conservative governance. Indeed, local voters recently elected another in a long string of so-called “moderate” mayors, leaders all-too-eager to curry favor with the city’s business community including the very tech oligarchs now wielding so much influence with the Trump administration. 

As they gained wealth, the tech oligarchs began throwing their considerable political weight around in San Francisco. Billionaire investor David Sacks was a leading contributor — and advocate – for the recall of progressive District Attorney Chesa Boudin. He was joined by friend and fellow tech investor Garry Tan, who also supported the ouster of three members of the San Francisco School Board. In recent local elections, tech oligarchs have shown their fondness for authoritarianism. They have called for more policing (including the use of high-tech surveillance), a punitive response to the disease of drug addiction, and bolstering the authority of San Francisco’s already-powerful mayor.

Their attacks on progressive policies and office holders are eerily similar to Trump’s verbal assaults on “woke-ness.” Their participation in San Francisco politics was a warmup for the national stage.  

In Trump, the tech oligarchs are guaranteed a leader who will serve their narrow and selfish interests, lowering taxes on wealthy individuals and businesses, and allowing their businesses to operate without the inconvenience of government regulations. Trump has already promised to lower taxes on billionaires. Silicon Valley leaders have called him “the first Crypto President,” in anticipation of what they expect will be a hands-off approach to an industry rife with fraud. Moreover, these tech oligarchs are eyeing the defense budget and unfettered AI development, and believe Trump will facilitate both those things.

A select few, such as Curtis Yarvin and Marc Andreessen view the president as a vehicle to further ideas that can only be called anti-democratic. They consider the Heritage Foundation’s Project 2025 a call to “rescue the country from the radical Left” by eliminating many of the rights Americans hold dear. Instead they believe in Neo-Monarchism – a movement to replace democracy with a corporate brand of authoritarianism – and the Network State – a dystopic vision where elites would form their own sovereign states.

On the Network State, a creation of Silicon Valley venture capitalist and billionaire Balaji Srinavasan, a recent article in Vox remarks that the ideology is both “inspired by science fiction and fantasy,” and is grounded in the notion that “supermen should not be subject to rules because they are doing something incredibly important: Remaking the world in their image.”

Local right-wing billionaires Sacks and Peter Thiel were the first to cast their lot with Trump and the fascist movement he leads. (Thiel, in fact, has supported Trump since 2017.) Last summer, Sacks raised $15 million for the Trump campaign at an exclusive gathering at his Pacific Heights home. At the event, Sacks urged Trump to appoint Ohio Senator J.D. Vance, a Thiel protege, as his running mate. As thanks, Sacks was given a coveted speaking spot at the Republican National Convention which he used as an opportunity to bash his hometown. “Democrat rule has turned the streets of my home town into a cesspool of open encampments and open drug use,” he moaned, repeating a false narrative often used in San Francisco and beyond to attack progressive policies and office holders.

Since then, Sacks has been appointed to be White House’s first Cryptocurrency and Artificial Intelligence Czar. At last week’s inauguration, Sacks hosted a VIP reception, charging $100,000 a ticket for an opportunity to meet with “the first Crypto President.” 

Tan, after a bruising San Francisco election in which few of the candidates or ballot initiatives he lavishly backed found favor with local voters, recently announced he would step down as a director of GrowSF, a key node in the Astroturf Network here, and instead focus on activities in Washington.

Tan and Sack will have plenty of broligarchs for company in D.C., including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg. To curry favor with Trump, Bezos pulled an endorsement for former Vice President Kamala Harris in his newspaper, the Washington Post. Zuckerberg, for his cowardly part, promised to no longer monitor disinformation, much of it right-wing, on Facebook. Bezos, Zuckerberg and Sam Altman all contributed $1 million apiece to Trump’s inauguration.

President Biden urged Americans to fight back against the tech oligarchs as a previous generation did against the industrial robber barons of the early 20th century. “They didn’t punish the wealthy,” he said. “They just made the wealthy play by the rules everybody else had to.” Playing by the rules is precisely what the oligarchs are loath to do.