San Francisco's tech scene was rocked by controversy after Y Combinator CEO Garry Tan went on a now-deleted, late-night Twitter tirade, wishing death on several city supervisors.

In what SFist reported as a possible alcohol-induced outburst, Tan took to social media in the early hours, directing an aggressive "Die slow motherf***ers" to SF Board of Supervisors members Aaron Peskin, Dean Preston, Shamann Walton, Myrna Melgar, Hillary Ronen, Ahsha Safaí, and Connie Chan, the tech magnate who has backed moderate political causes with over $100,000, and is known for preemptively blocking critical journalists and public figures, including those from the San Francisco Chronicle, later claimed the tweet was an ill-advised reference to a notorious Tupac Shakur song.

Tan faced backlash from the community and issued an apology, stating, "I apologize to the Board of Supervisors for my comments late last night in a post," adding that he loves San Francisco and acknowledges that the community will hold him accountable, aiming to focus on the city's well-being, as per his statement obtained by SFist.

Supervisor Dean Preston, one of the tweet's targets, was quick to criticize calling out billionaire donors whom he perceives as inciting violence as "moderates" and challenged other politicians to reject or donate any contributions from Tan to charity, specifically naming Bilal Mahmood, who has links to Tan through past funding of his co-founded company and is contending against Preston in November's election, Mahmood has yet to respond. However, Supervisor Preston's call to action signifies a mounting impatience within the political landscape of San Francisco to establish a narrative of accountability that distances leadership from the intensity of rancorous discourse in an era where social media often becomes the battleground for such, as per his statements to the Chronicle.

While some supervisors have opted to dismiss Tan's remarks or publicly express their displeasure, the incident casts a shadow over the political advocacy group GrowSF, with Tan on its board, and whether his online behavior will impact their influence in the upcoming 2024 elections. Supervisor Walton, responding on Instagram to the tirade, expressed disbelief at being the subject of vitriol from someone he hadn't heard of, underscoring the shock waves sent through local politics due to Tan's sharply worded tweets.