Indian-American tech millionaire who wants to 'change' Democratic Party upside down

Saikat Chakrabarti, founding engineer of the payment processing platform Stripe, is mobilising his tech fortune for a full-scale political revolution. The 40-year-old tech millionaire is running a high-stakes campaign to win the deeply blue San Francisco congressional seat being vacated by former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi. His goal: a complete overhaul of the Democratic establishment.“I’m running to change the system. The party is ready for a full-scale revolution,” Chakrabarti said in a recent interview, as per a report by The Wall Street Journal.Chakrabarti directly targets the current party leadership, and openly criticised House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries, labeling him a “bad leader.” Chakrabarti’s other fighting issues are: Calling for an immediate end to US military aid to Israel, voicing support for a progressive wealth tax and advocating for taxpayer-funded free healthcare for everyone.His campaign is drawing significant attention from the national progressive movement, the report suggests. At a recent “Change the Party” rally in San Francisco’s South of Market, popularly known as SoMa, neighborhood, thousands of attendees cheered alongside high-profile progressive figures. Former New York Representative Jamaal Bowman took aim at tech giants and wealthy individual with political and social clout in his speech, while popular Twitch streamer Hasan Piker declared to the crowd that “the revolution is here.”To secure the seat, Chakrabarti must first defeat a crowded field in June's primary election, where the top two candidates will advance to November regardless of party affiliation. His main opponents represent distinct factions of local politics:The first is State Senator Scott Wiener, who is the current front-runner and a pro-housing advocate who carries significant legislative experience. The second is County Supervisor Connie Chan, who is a former aide to Kamala Harris. She holds deep ties with San Francisco's labor unions and Chinese-speaking community.Meanwhile, Chakrabarti is specifically courting younger, high-earning voters who feel locked out of the city’s costly housing market. However, one of the biggest challenges that Chakrabarti is facing despite his progressive credentials is that he has yet to receive a public endorsement from any current state or federal lawmaker. Chakrabarti co-founded the activist group Justice Democrats and serving as Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez’s congressional chief of staff.Financial disclosures from 2025 reveal that Chakrabarti holds at least $167 million in assets. He has poured roughly $5 million of his own money into the race, drawing sharp criticism from his opponents.Notably, polling experts have pointed out that the broader Democratic voter base has shifted further to the left over the last decade, and Chakrabarti’s anti-establishment bid comes at a complicated time for San Francisco. This is because local politics have recently trended more moderate.“It may not be the best time to be an insurgent taking on the party in San Francisco,” Jason McDaniel, an associate professor of political science at San Francisco State University, was quoted as saying.