Chris Larsen

Chris Larsen (born 1960) is an American business executive and angel investor best known for co-founding several Silicon Valley technology startups, including one based on peer to peer lending. In 1996, he co-founded the online mortgage lender E-Loan, In 2020, he ranked No. 319 in the Forbes 400 list of the richest people in America.

In 2020, Larsen and Ripple each donated US$1 million to five San Francisco food banks for COVID-19 relief efforts.

Early life and education

Chris Larsen was born in San Francisco, California, in 1960. His mother worked as a freelance illustrator, while his father worked as an aircraft mechanic for United Airlines at San Francisco International Airport.

Larsen has made several standout donations, including a $1 million donation to Pennsylvania Democratic governor Josh Shapiro and nearly $7,000 to John Deaton, a Massachusetts Republican rival of Democratic senator Elizabeth Warren, a prominent critic of cryptocurrencies. He backed a pro-Biden PAC in 2020,

During the 2026 midterm elections, Larsen spent $3.5 million backing Alex Bores, who ran but eventually lost for New York's affluent 12th Congressional District in the primary. The race gained attention for becoming a proxy fight between A.I. political groups backed by industry rivals OpenAI and Anthropic over their stance on A.I. legislation.