“Ten and 15 years ago, there were a lot of companies that were coming in — technology companies that were disrupting marketplaces — and many of them were pursuing a business model of ‘ask forgiveness, not permission,’” Supervisor Matt Dorsey said Wednesday. “The worst offender was Airbnb.”
Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, the Housing Rights Committee’s director of policy and campaigns, said she also remembered Airbnb’s early impact on the city’s housing market.
“I over and over saw apartment after apartment evicted — long-term tenants in every neighborhood of this city whose landlords kicked them out because they could, then Airbnb’d the properties,” Sherburn-Zimmer said.
Organizers said they’re also boycotting the company due to Airbnb cofounder and board member Joe Gebbia’s ties to the Trump administration. Gebbia announced in February that he had joined the DOGE team led by Elon Musk that advocated for the mass firings of federal employees.
Airbnb said Gebbia left his operating role at the company in 2022, but he remains on the company’s board of directors.
Airbnb declined to comment on its ongoing litigation against San Francisco, but in a statement, the company said it pays its taxes.
“In 2024, the company contributed more than $3.8 billion in total tax revenue to the state alone,” Airbnb wrote. “We will continue to work closely with local leaders to work towards the post-pandemic revitalization of the city we call home.”
According to the company’s lawsuit, the tax error stems from city officials misclassifying the type of business Airbnb is. The city denied Airbnb’s appeal of the classification.
