Gavin Newsom

Gavin Newsom is an American politician and businessman who has served as the 40th governor of California since 2019. After graduating from high school and college, Newsom co-founded the PlumpJack wine store with his family friend, Gordon Getty, and became involved as an investor. Today, the PlumpJack Group has expanded to nearly 23 businesses, including restaurants, hotels, wineries, and more.

Early Life

Gavin Newsom was born on October 10, 1967, in San Francisco to parents Tessa Thomas and William Alfred Newsom III. His father worked as a court judge and an attorney for Getty Oil. Newsom’s maternal great-grandfather, Scotsman Thomas Addis, was a prominent scientist in the field of nephrology and a professor of medicine at Stanford University. Coming from a well-connected family, Newsom had significant exposure to the world from an early age. He is also the second cousin of musician Joanna Newsom, who is an actress, singer-songwriter, and multi-instrumentalist.

Gavin Newsom’s parents divorced in 1972 when he was just five years old. Growing up with a learning disorder—dyslexia—added to his challenges. He attended kindergarten and later enrolled at École Notre Dame des Victoires, a French-American bilingual school in San Francisco. However, he was soon transferred out due to severe dyslexia, which continues to affect him today. Throughout his education, he relied on audiobooks, informal verbal instructions, and study digests to navigate his learning difficulties. Even now, he prefers to review documents and reports using audio.

Childhood Struggles

Gavin Newsom attended École Notre Dame des Victoires for third through fifth grade, where he was placed in remedial classes due to dyslexia. In high school, he played basketball and baseball and attended Redwood High School in 1985. Newsom played as a shooting guard in basketball and an outfielder in baseball. His athletic and academic achievements earned him a feature on the cover of the Marin Independent Journal.

Tessa Newsom, the mother of the successful public figure, worked three jobs to support Gavin and his sister, Hilary Newsom Callan. In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Hilary recalled a Christmas holiday when their mother told them they would not receive any gifts. As a result, Newsom took on multiple jobs to help support his family. His father’s earnings were significantly reduced, leading to financial struggles for the family.

Gavin Newsom Career

Newsom, along with his investors, created a small business named PlumpJack Associates L.P. on May 4, 1991. Later, in 1992, the group founded PlumpJack Winery with financial support from his family friend, Gordon Getty. PlumpJack was the name of an opera written by Getty, who went on to invest in 10 out of 11 of Newsom’s businesses.

In an interview with the San Francisco Chronicle, Getty stated that he always treated Gavin as his son and invested in his first business as a venture because of their relationship. Due to the success of their first business, they continued expanding and opening new ventures.

Newsom’s political career began when he volunteered for Willie Brown’s campaign in 1995. At that time, he hosted a private fundraiser at his PlumpJack Café. Later, Brown appointed Newsom to fill a vacant seat on the Parking and Traffic Commission in 1996, where he was eventually elected president of the commission.

In 2003, at the age of 36, Newsom was elected as the 42nd mayor of San Francisco, becoming one of the youngest mayors in a century. He was reelected in 2007 with 72% of the vote. In 2010, he was elected lieutenant governor of California and was reelected in 2014.

Newsom prevailed in the 2021 recall election, making him only the second governor in U.S. history to win a recall election.

Personal life

In 2001, Gavin Newsom married Kimberly Guilfoyle, who was a former prosecutor and legal analyst working for MSNBC, CNN, and Court TV. She was one of the prominent personalities on Fox News. Gavin married her at Saint Ignatius Catholic Church.  The marriage couldn’t work for them and they filed for divorce in January 2005 and stated the reason that they both had to face difficulty while being together was that their career paths were different from each other. They parted ways on 28th February 2006.

In January 2007, it was revealed that Gavin Newsom had an affair with Ruby Rippey-Tourk (in the middle of 2005), who was the wife of his campaign’s then-manager and former deputy chief of staff, Alex Tourk.  Later, the news was publicized that Tourk filed for divorce with her husband, leaving Newsom’s campaign and administration.  Thereafter, in September 2006, Gavin and film director Jennifer Siebel came together and started dating each other. They announced their engagement publically and got married in Stevensville, Montana, in July 2008. They are still together and have four children; two of them are daughters, and two of them are sons.

Gavin Newsom Net worth

Gavin Newsom has reached a level where he is considered one of the wealthiest individuals in the state and one of the highest-paid figures in California politics. He is now a millionaire with an upscale chain of restaurants, wineries, hotels, and retail shops. In addition to serving as the governor of California, he has strong ties to the business world. He has built around 23 businesses with 800 employees under a single group named PlumpJack, which he founded in the 1990s.

His fortune began with a single wine shop, funded by an investment from a family friend, which has since grown into a thriving business benefiting his entire family. According to the state’s political practice commission, he has assets exceeding $950,000, including various investments and holdings. His wine business, Airelle Wines Inc., has an estimated market value between $10,000 and $100,000 and generated an annual income of approximately $1.3 million. Gavin Newsom has an estimated net worth of around $30 million. 

Trivia

• Gavin Newsom was appointed to fill a vacancy on the Board of Supervisors and later had the opportunity to be elected to the board in 1998, 2000, and 2002.
  
• In the 2018 elections, he was elected governor of the state but later faced criticism for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic, which eventually spread worldwide.
  
• He is one of the most prominent progressive leaders and has been an advocate for LGBTQ rights, minimum wage increases, gun control, immigrant rights, same-sex marriage, universal health care, and environmental policies to combat climate change.
  
• Gavin Newsom’s father was an advocate who worked for otters, and their family had a pet they loved and adored.
  
• He faced numerous challenges with writing, spelling, reading, and working with numbers due to his learning disorder, dyslexia.
• After her divorce, Gavin’s mother, Tessa Newsom, worked multiple jobs to financially support Gavin and his sister, Hilary.