--- title: "Airbnb lost the LA mayor it backed with $4.1 million; then 19% revenue growth and a $12 billion buyback" description: "Airbnb and its nonprofit put more than $12 million into Los Angeles politics, and on November 5 the citywide candidates it backed both lost. Hours later came 19% revenue growth and a $12 billion buyback; the bill lands on Los Angeles hosts and the city's Olympic lodging plan." publisher: "The Inference" section: "Applications" published: 2026-11-06T14:10:30.169Z modified: 2026-11-06T14:10:30.169Z canonical: https://theinference.org/article/airbnb-lost-the-la-mayor-it-backed-with-4-1-million-then-19-revenue-growth-and-a-12-billion-buyback language: en keywords: "Airbnb, Los Angeles, Regulation, Earnings, Politics, Stock Moves" --- # Airbnb lost the LA mayor it backed with $4.1 million; then 19% revenue growth and a $12 billion buyback > Airbnb and its nonprofit put more than $12 million into Los Angeles politics, and on November 5 the citywide candidates it backed both lost. Hours later came 19% revenue growth and a $12 billion buyback; the bill lands on Los Angeles hosts and the city's Olympic lodging plan. Mayor Karen Bass conceded to City Councilmember Nithya Raman on the morning of November 5, making Raman the first challenger to unseat a Los Angeles incumbent since 2005 [1][2]. [Airbnb](https://theinference.org/markets/companies/airbnb) had spent more than $4.1 million on groups supporting Bass and $2.1 million on city attorney candidate John McKinney, out of more than $12 million the company and its nonprofit put into city politics this cycle; [The Inference counted $7.1 million of it before election day](https://theinference.org/article/airbnb-spent-7-1-million-on-los-angeles-elections-before-november-3-30-times-its-spending-since-2018) [1][3]. The money chased a city rule, in force since 2018, that lets only a primary residence list on a short-term rental platform [3][4]. The stalled Vacation Rental Ordinance would add as many as 15,000 second homes through the Games; Airbnb pitched it as rooms for the roughly 2 million visitors expected in 2028 and up to $110 million in bed taxes [3][4]. Bass favored it [3][4]. Raman called the spending "pay-to-play" and vowed to stop deregulation "in ways that are harmful to renters" [3][4]. ## The city attorney may cost Airbnb more than the mayor McKinney lost too: city attorney candidate Marissa Roy led him by nearly 2 to 1 and inherits the city's lawsuit alleging price gouging during the January 2025 fires [1][2]. She has pledged to align with tenants' unions, and she noted in September that [the city attorney "has the extraordinary power to sue any business for anything unlawful, unfair or deceptive"](https://laist.com/news/politics/airbnb-poured-more-than-6m-into-the-la-mayoral-and-city-attorney-races-its-candidates-lost) [1]. A 2022 review found nearly half of listings on Airbnb and rival platform Vrbo out of compliance with the home-sharing ordinance, which hands her a target list [1]. *Chart: **Airbnb's two biggest Los Angeles bets both lost on November 5** Bar chart of Airbnb's 2026 Los Angeles election spending: $4.1 million for mayoral candidate Karen Bass and $2.1 million for city attorney candidate John McKinney, both of whom lost; at least $1 million for Tim Gaspar and $300,000 for Jose Ugarte.* *Airbnb spending on 2026 Los Angeles city races, millions of dollars. The Bass, Gaspar and Ugarte figures are reported minimums ('more than'); McKinney's is stated flat. Results as of November 5, 2026. Source: LAist. [1]* ## The halo went up before the vote September brought [a $250 million Housing Accelerator](https://housingforwardva.org/news/fwd-279-airbnb-housing-supply/) meant to unlock about $5 billion of development over a decade [5]. Days before the vote came [a $500 million, five-year pledge to Airbnb.org](https://www.dailypress.net/news/2026/11/airbnb-pledges-500m-for-its-nonprofit-to-offer-more-free-emergency-stays/), its nonprofit: 10 cents from every booking, shortfalls covered by the company, toward 1 million free emergency nights a year [6]. The dimes alone would take 5 billion bookings in five years [6]. Chesky's framing: "I don't like this idea that somehow you create a nonprofit to make up for or apologize for your core business" [6]. Nothing on the record shows whether any of it softens a regulator or a jury. ## Shareholders funded both halves of the week Hours after Bass conceded, Airbnb reported [third-quarter revenue of $4.9 billion, up 19%](https://skift.com/2026/11/05/airbnb-outpaces-rivals-with-its-fastest-revenue-growth-in-3-years/), its fastest growth in three years, raised full-year guidance to 16-18% and added a $12 billion buyback; the stock rose about 11% in extended trading [7][8]. By the company's own math the city is survivable: no single city tops 1.5% of revenue, Chesky said in 2023, and Bernstein analyst Richard Clarke expects Airbnb to find other routes to Olympic supply [3]. The same shareholders funded the losing campaigns, the pledge, which Chesky called "a number shareholders can be comfortable with," and the buyback [1][6][8]. The enforcement turn pays Raman's renters-first agenda, Roy's tenants'-union pledge and the hotels, whose association found six in 10 hoteliers expect short-term rental growth to hurt bookings and rates [4]. *Chart: **Airbnb's revenue growth bottomed near 6% in 2025 and hit 19% the week Los Angeles voted** Line chart of Airbnb's year-over-year revenue growth by quarter from Q3 2023 to Q3 2026, falling to 6.1% in Q1 2025 and rising to 19% in Q3 2026.* *Year-over-year revenue growth per quarterly reports, in percent. The Q3 2026 quarter was reported on November 5, 2026. Sources: Skift; Airbnb SEC filings. [7][9]* ## The count to 10 "Their investments sure didn't pay off," said Mike Bonin, a former city council member who now heads the Pat Brown Institute for Public Affairs [1]. The next move he expects from Airbnb: "count to 10," the council votes that override a mayoral veto [1]. With Raman against loosening and the ordinance stuck in a council committee with no hearing scheduled, that count is the company's live path [1][4]. Jose Ugarte, leading in Council District 9 after more than $300,000 of Airbnb support, wants the company and its critics at one table first [1]. Two clocks run from here: whether 10 votes exist, and how hard Roy presses the gouging suit she inherits [1]. ## Takeaway Airbnb's $6.2 million in citywide Los Angeles campaign spending failed on November 5, leaving a hostile mayor and city attorney to inherit a price-gouging suit, yet the same day the company posted 19% revenue growth, raised guidance and added a $12 billion buyback; its live path now runs through ten council votes. ## Sources 1. [LAist, "Airbnb poured more than $6M into the LA mayoral and city attorney races. Its candidates lost", 5 November 2026](https://laist.com/news/politics/airbnb-poured-more-than-6m-into-the-la-mayoral-and-city-attorney-races-its-candidates-lost) 2. [Reuters via U.S. News & World Report, "Democratic Socialist Raman Elected Los Angeles Mayor in Upset Over Bass", 5 November 2026](https://www.usnews.com/news/world/articles/2026-11-05/democratic-socialist-raman-elected-los-angeles-mayor-in-upset-over-bass) 3. [Skift, Wanderlust newsletter: "Airbnb's LA Mayor Bet", 6 November 2026](https://newsletters.skift.com/p/airbnb-los-angeles-mayor-election) 4. [Capital & Main, "Airbnb Pours Millions Into L.A. City Elections Ahead of Olympics", 26 October 2026](https://capitalandmain.com/airbnb-pours-millions-into-l-a-city-elections-ahead-of-olympics) 5. [HousingForward Virginia, The FWD #279: "Airbnb Checks In on Housing Supply", 4 November 2026](https://housingforwardva.org/news/fwd-279-airbnb-housing-supply/) 6. [Associated Press via Daily Press, "Airbnb pledges $500M for its nonprofit to offer more free emergency stays", 5 November 2026](https://www.dailypress.net/news/2026/11/airbnb-pledges-500m-for-its-nonprofit-to-offer-more-free-emergency-stays/) 7. [Skift, "Airbnb Outpaces Rivals With Its Fastest Revenue Growth in 3 Years", 5 November 2026](https://skift.com/2026/11/05/airbnb-outpaces-rivals-with-its-fastest-revenue-growth-in-3-years/) 8. [Finimize, "Airbnb Raised Its 2026 Outlook And Added A $12 Billion Buyback", 6 November 2026](https://finimize.com/content/airbnb-raised-its-2026-outlook-and-added-a-12-billion-buyback) 9. [Airbnb, quarterly figures from SEC filings, retrieved 6 November 2026](https://www.sec.gov/cgi-bin/browse-edgar?action=getcompany&CIK=0001559720) --- Airbnb lost the LA mayor it backed with $4.1 million; then 19% revenue growth and a $12 billion buyback — The Inference. Canonical: https://theinference.org/article/airbnb-lost-the-la-mayor-it-backed-with-4-1-million-then-19-revenue-growth-and-a-12-billion-buyback