\u201cTen and 15 years ago, there were a lot of companies that were coming in \u2014 technology companies that were disrupting marketplaces \u2014 and many of them were pursuing a business model of \u2018ask forgiveness, not permission,\u2019\u201d Supervisor Matt Dorsey said Wednesday. \u201cThe worst offender was Airbnb.\u201d<\/p>\n
Fred Sherburn-Zimmer, the Housing Rights Committee\u2019s director of policy and campaigns, said she also remembered Airbnb\u2019s early impact on the city\u2019s housing market.<\/p>\n
\u201cI over and over saw apartment after apartment evicted \u2014 long-term tenants in every neighborhood of this city whose landlords kicked them out because they could, then Airbnb\u2019d the properties,\u201d Sherburn-Zimmer said.<\/p>\n
Organizers said they\u2019re also boycotting the company due to Airbnb cofounder and board member Joe Gebbia\u2019s 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<\/a>.<\/p>\n Airbnb said Gebbia left his operating role at the company in 2022, but he remains on the company\u2019s board of directors.<\/p>\n Airbnb declined to comment on its ongoing litigation against San Francisco, but in a statement, the company said it pays its taxes.<\/p>\n \u201cIn 2024, the company contributed more than $3.8 billion in total tax revenue to the state alone,\u201d Airbnb wrote. \u201cWe will continue to work closely with local leaders to work towards the post-pandemic revitalization of the city we call home.\u201d<\/p>\n According to the company\u2019s lawsuit, the tax error stems from city officials misclassifying the type of business Airbnb is. The city denied Airbnb\u2019s appeal of the classification.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/cdn.kqed.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/10\/2025\/10\/AirbnbSFKQED.jpg\")