How a Silicon Valley billionaire helped get marijuana fully legalized in California

Proposition 64 first got its nickname — “The Parker Initiative” — in fall 2015 when Parker’s first contribution became known. The campaign claims Parker had no hand in crafting the specifics or language of the bill, though he expected a “professional and ethical campaign.”

“From the outset, he made it clear that he would be supportive but that he wanted the policy experts to write the best policy and the political professionals to run the best campaign,” Kinney said. “And that’s exactly what we did.”

This isn’t the first time Parker threw his name or money behind an effort to end the prohibition on pot. He gave $100,000 to the unsuccessful California initiative from 2010 and also contributed $2 million for recreational marijuana in Oregon.

Parker was also a general partner at Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund, which has invested heavily in legal marijuana. The media has suggested Parker’s role meant he had material gains to make from the success of Proposition 64; however, Parker left Founders Fund in 2015, a year before the firm led a $75 million round for marijuana-focused equity firm Privateer Holdings.

Even in the days leading up to the election, Parker has kept quiet on the bill. Representatives for Parker did not respond to Business Insider’s request for comment.

Still, his name often makes the headline of news stories about legalization in California.

Kinney said the so-called Parker Initiative actually has little to do with the tech tycoon.

“This was never about him. It was about the thousands of lives shattered and the billions of taxpayers dollars squandered by a failed war on marijuana,” Kinney said. “He didn’t want to be a distraction. He wanted the focus where it belongs — on the measure itself.”