Joe Gebbia

Investments

Gebbia has invested in:

• Stark Bank, a corporate bank focusing on financial technology[29]
• Vimcal, a calendar mobile app[30]
• A minority ownership stake in the San Antonio Spurs[5]

Documentary work

In 2020, Gebbia was an executive producer on the documentary film Universe, which follows jazz trumpeter Wallace Roney, a protégé of Miles Davis, as he convenes an orchestra to perform a rediscovered orchestral jazz suite by Wayne Shorter—written in 1966 for Miles Davis but never before performed. The film premiered weeks after Roney died from complications of COVID-19, making it one of the first films portraying the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.[31] Gebbia also executive produced a documentary titled We Dare to Dream, in partnership with XTR, following the 29-athlete Refugee Olympic Team at the Olympics before, during and after the 2020 Summer Olympics.[32][33]

Work for DOGE

In 2025, Gebbia joined the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as head of its National Design Studio (NDS). The studio's job is to improve the design of government websites.[34][35] Gebbia said government websites, especially on mobile, are "horribly out of date" and he wants to create an "Apple Store-like experience."[36][35]

Concern that Gebbia's work for DOGE undermined U.S. democracy resulted in calls to boycott Airbnb.[37] In a Jan 19, 2025 post on X, Gebbia wrote that Trump "is not a fascist determined to destroy democracy" and that "I ... love the whole DOGE initiative."[38]

Gebbia stepped down from the board of Airbnb.org, the company’s nonprofit arm that provides temporary housing for refugees and people displaced by disasters, in 2025, amid public controversy over anti-immigration comments he made in an interview. The resignation was announced in early April 2025 following backlash related to Gebbia’s recent outspoken criticism of certain refugee and migration policies and his visible political affiliations, which some felt were at odds with the humanitarian mission of Airbnb.org.[39] Gebbia was also criticised on X where a clip of the comment went viral and users quickly pointed out that his wife is an immigrant from Brazil.

Board memberships

Gebbia is on the board of directors of Airbnb; Samara, an accessory dwelling unit startup and Tesla Inc.[43][44][45][46]

Politics

Gebbia used to be a Democrat. In 2025, Gebbia donated $1 million to the gubernatorial campaign of Greg Abbott.[47][48] He has said that his politics have shifted towards the Republican Party over time.[48] In the 2024 United States presidential election, he said he voted Republican.[48] In 2025, Gebbia praised President Donald Trump's nomination of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to United States Secretary of Health and Human Services.[48] Gebbia gave at least $2 million to Andrew Cuomo's PAC for the 2025 New York City mayoral election.[49][50]

Philanthropy

Gebbia is among the youngest members to join The Giving Pledge committing to give more than half his wealth to philanthropic causes.[51] Gebbia has made donations to service-led companies and projects, including Thorn and Educate Girls.[52] A former scholarship recipient, in 2014, Gebbia donated $300,000 to his alma mater, RISD, to create an endowed fund that will make the school accessible for students in need of financial assistance.[53][54] In 2017, Gebbia brought Yeonmi Park, a North Korean refugee as his guest to the Met Gala to bring attention to the issue of global-refugee security. Park was featured on the front page of the style section of The New York Times following the event.[55]

In 2019, Gebbia donated to the Kevin Durant Charity Foundation which was used to redevelop basketball and tennis courts at playgrounds in Hayes Valley, San Francisco.[56] In 2020, he and his team launched Airbnb.org, a non-profit that enables hosts on Airbnb to house people in times of crisis.[57][58] In December 2020, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Gebbia made a $25 million donation to benefit two San Francisco charities working to end homelessness in the San Francisco Bay Area: Rising Up—Larkin Street Youth Services and All Home.[59][60] In 2021, Gebbia was included on the list of America's 50 Biggest Charity Donors by The Chronicle of Philanthropy.[61] In May 2022, while Gebbia was the graduation speaker at his alma mater, Brookwood High School, he pledged 22 shares of Airbnb stock to each of the 890 graduates, a gift worth a total of $2.1 million.[62]

In February 2023, Gebbia made a $25 million gift to The Ocean Cleanup, the organization's largest private donation to date. The gift expands climate health and ocean sustainability operations across oceans, rivers, recycling, and research. Funds particularly support deployment of the organization's System 03 cleaning technology in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.[63] In February 2023, Gebbia committed to donating $25 million to Malala Fund over a period of five years.[64][65]