These kinds of guys have been active in California since basically as soon as it was granted statehood. The Big Four (a clique or robber barons) tried to rule over the state with the wealth they built up with the Central Pacific Railroad.
One of them, Leland Stanford (of Stanford University), actually did become governor and eventually senator.
Another, Charles Crocker, invented Californian NIMBYism with his infamous spite fence.
We’ve finally figured out how to trick the computer that’s bad at math into being less bad at math.