Chris Larsen is a philanthropist and billionaire who has founded multiple companies including Ripple Labs, which provides an electronic payments protocol. ¹ Ripple Labs has been embroiled in litigation with the Securities and Exchange Commission over the regulatory classification of some of its cryptocurrency-related products. ²

Larsen was the biggest individual backer of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin’s unsuccessful campaign to defeat a recall effort. Larsen donated $100,000 to the Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall committee that opposed the recall effort. ³

Early Life

Chris Larsen was born in San Francisco, California in 1960. ⁴ His father was a United Airlines aircraft mechanic at San Francisco International Airport and his mother was a freelance illustrator. After high school, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in international business and accounting in 1984. He then went on to work for Chevron doing financial audits in Brazil, Indonesia, and Ecuador. ⁵ In 1991, Larsen graduated from the Stanford University Graduate School of Business with a master’s degree in business administration. ⁶

Career and Philanthropy

After graduating from business school, Larsen co-founded E-Loan ⁷ with Janina Pawlowski in the late 1990s. ⁸ E-Loan was one of the first online mortgage lenders in the United States. ⁹

In 2001, Larsen co-founded a coalition called Californians for Privacy Now to protect consumer privacy. He funded this coalition with $ 1 million of his own money. ¹⁰

Larsen later co-founded the first peer-to-peer lending marketplace in the United States, called Prosper, in 2005. A few months after leaving Prosper, Larsen co-founded Ripple in 2012, establishing a global decentralized network that uses a cryptocurrency token known as XRP to expedite electronic payments. ¹¹

In 2015, Larsen and an entrepreneur and lecturer at Stanford’s business school, Doug Galen, co-founded a foundation that supports social ventures around the world. Larsen donated $25 million to San Francisco State University’s College of Business and more than $800,000 to scholarships, education, business, and science initiatives at the university. ¹²

Controversy

In December 2020, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a civil complaint alleging that Larsen and Ripple Labs failed to register a $1.3 billion securities offering for cryptocurrency sponsored by his company. Regulators stated that Larsen had an unfair advantage over retail investors because he failed to register the securities offering. Larsen has denied wrongdoing and has not been charged criminally; ¹³ Ripple disputed the SEC’s characterization of XRP as a “security” for regulatory purposes, and litigation continued as of early 2022. ¹⁴

Larsen was the biggest individual backer of former San Francisco District Attorney Chesa Boudin during a recall effort sparked by Boudin’s policies, which were accused of being soft on criminal activity. Larsen donated $100,000 to the Friends of Chesa Boudin Opposing the Recall, a committee that opposed the recall effort. ¹⁵ Boudin was recalled by a 55 to 45 percent vote. ¹⁶

1. “Chris Larsen.” Forbes. Accessed July 24, 2022. https://www.forbes.com/profile/chris-larsen/?sh=cf9631357edc.
2. Browne, Ryan. “Crypto Firm Ripple’s Court Battle with the SEC Has Gone ‘Exceedingly Well,’ CEO Says.” CNBC. CNBC, April 14, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/ripples-court-battle-with-sec-has-gone-exceedingly-well-ceo-says.html.
3. Ross, Chuck. “California’s Most Radical Prosecutor Bankrolled by Scandal-Plagued Tech Billionaire.” Washington Free Beacon. Last modified March 7, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/chesa-boudins-unlikely-backer/.
4. Dangremond, Sam. “Meet the Cryptocurrency Billionaire Was Worth More Than the Google Founders Yesterday.” Town & Country. Last modified January 5, 2018. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a14760286/chris-larsen-net-worth/.
5. Bee, Adrianne. “E-LOAN founder named Alum of the Year.” San Francisco State University. Last modified June 27, 2004. https://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2004/spring/71.htm.
6. ^[1] Dangremond, Sam. “Meet the Cryptocurrency Billionaire Was Worth More Than the Google Founders Yesterday.” Town & Country. Last modified January 5, 2018. https://www.townandcountrymag.com/society/money-and-power/a14760286/chris-larsen-net-worth/.
7. Mallimson, Gail. “CHRIS LARSEN: ALUMNUS AND DONOR WITH A VISION.” San Francisco State University. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://develop.sfsu.edu/chris-larsen-donor-profile.
8. “Built to Flip – Where Do You Come Down?” Fast Company. Last modified July 30, 2012. https://www.fastcompany.com/39172/built-flip-where-do-you-come-down.
9. Andrews, Edmund L. “Chris Larsen: Money Without Borders.” Stanford Graduate School of Business. Last modified September 24, 2013. https://www.gsb.stanford.edu/insights/chris-larsen-money-without-borders.
10. Bee, Adrianne. “E-LOAN founder named Alum of the Year.” San Francisco State University. Last modified June 27, 2004. https://www.sfsu.edu/~news/2004/spring/71.htm.
11. Mallimson, Gail. “CHRIS LARSEN: ALUMNUS AND DONOR WITH A VISION.” San Francisco State University. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://develop.sfsu.edu/chris-larsen-donor-profile.
12. Mallimson, Gail. “CHRIS LARSEN: ALUMNUS AND DONOR WITH A VISION.” San Francisco State University. Accessed July 18, 2022. https://develop.sfsu.edu/chris-larsen-donor-profile.
13. Ross, Chuck. “California’s Most Radical Prosecutor Bankrolled by Scandal-Plagued Tech Billionaire.” Washington Free Beacon. Last modified March 7, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/chesa-boudins-unlikely-backer/.
14. Browne, Ryan. “Crypto Firm Ripple’s Court Battle with the SEC Has Gone ‘Exceedingly Well,’ CEO Says.” CNBC. CNBC, April 14, 2022. https://www.cnbc.com/2022/04/14/ripples-court-battle-with-sec-has-gone-exceedingly-well-ceo-says.html.
15. ^[1] Ross, Chuck. “California’s Most Radical Prosecutor Bankrolled by Scandal-Plagued Tech Billionaire.” Washington Free Beacon. Last modified March 7, 2022. https://freebeacon.com/democrats/chesa-boudins-unlikely-backer/.
16. Fuller, Thomas. “Voters in San Francisco Topple the City’s Progressive District Attorney, Chesa Boudin.” New York Times. Last modified June 8, 2022. https://www.nytimes.com/2022/06/07/us/politics/chesa-boudin-recall-san-francisco.html.