tom-steyer farallon-capital fossil-fuels hedge-fund coal divestment class-analysis
related: _Tom Steyer Master Profile · Fossil Fuel Bloc · Chevron donors: Fossil Fuel Bloc
content-readiness:: ready
Farallon Capital and the Fossil Fuel Fortune
Money
Tom Steyer founded Farallon Capital Management in 1986. Over 26 years, the hedge fund grew to manage $20 billion in capital. The strategy: high-risk bets on distressed assets in volatile markets. Among those assets: coal mines in Indonesia, coal-fired power plants in China, oil and gas companies globally. Steyer made approximately $1.6–2.1 billion. Then he left, divested, and became a climate activist. The coal is still burning.
The Fossil Fuel Portfolio
Farallon’s energy investments over 15+ years included:
- Coal mining operations in Indonesia
- Coal-fired power plant investments in China
- $220 million investment in Nexen (oil and gas company), September 2012
- British Petroleum (BP) holdings
- Coal operations in Australia
Money
Over 15 years, Farallon pumped hundreds of millions into companies operating coal mines. The projects Farallon funded will generate tens of millions of tons of carbon pollution through 2030 and beyond. Steyer’s personal fortune — the same fortune now funding his “climate governor” campaign — is built on carbon extraction that will outlast his political career.
The Divestment Timeline
| Date | Action |
|---|---|
| 1986 | Founded Farallon Capital |
| ~2010 | Bill McKibben hiking trip — Steyer’s claimed conversion moment |
| October 2012 | Announced plans to leave Farallon |
| Late 2012 | Officially departed Farallon |
| September 2012 | $220M Nexen investment (after announced departure) |
| 2013 | Founded NextGen Climate Action Committee |
| June 2014 | Claimed “complete divestment” from fossil fuels |
| 2014+ | Farallon continued existing investments under new management |
Contradiction
The Nexen investment — $220 million in an oil and gas company — was made in September 2012, the same year Steyer announced his departure from Farallon. The divestment was not clean. And “divestment” means selling your stake to someone else who continues the investment. The coal mines still operate. The power plants still burn coal. Steyer’s money left; the carbon didn’t.
The Class Analysis
Steyer’s Farallon history reveals the fundamental problem with billionaire climate activism:
-
The extraction phase (1986–2012): 26 years of profit from the most carbon-intensive assets on Earth. Steyer became a billionaire by finding undervalued fossil fuel assets and extracting returns from them.
-
The conversion phase (2012–2014): A hiking trip with environmentalist Bill McKibben, departure from Farallon, and two years of “divestment.” The personal conversion is the storytelling mechanism that transforms extraction into activism.
-
The redemption phase (2013–present): $170 million through NextGen Climate, $200 million on a failed presidential campaign, $66.7 million on a governor’s race. All funded by fossil fuel profits.
Money
The total carbon impact of Farallon’s 15+ years of fossil fuel investment dwarfs the total carbon reduction of Steyer’s 10+ years of climate activism. This is not a moral judgment — it’s a structural observation. Individual billionaire activism cannot offset institutional fossil fuel investment at scale. The climate crisis is not solved by the conversion narrative of one wealthy man, however sincere. Steyer’s campaign is the fossil fuel fortune’s redemption arc — and redemption arcs serve the person seeking redemption, not the system that created the harm.