The investors behind the shadowy company that has purchased thousands of acres near Travis Air Force base in Northern California have been identified as a group of power players from Silicon Valley, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
The Wall Street Journal reported in July that in the last five years, the mysterious Flannery Associates spent more than $800 million on land zoned for agricultural purposes in northern Solano County.
According to the Journal, attorneys for the group said Flannery Associates is controlled by American citizens and 97 percent of its capital comes from US investors.
Last Friday, the New York Times revealed that Flannery’s investors include Laurene Powell Jobs, the widow of Apple co-founder Steve Jobs, and Meno Park venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz.
According to the Times, Flannery Associates was set up by former Goldman Sachs trader Jan Sramek who has been courting some of Silicon Valley’s top names as investors.
The mission of Flannery Associates is to buy up a patch of brown, arid hills between the suburbs and rural areas and convert it into communities for tens of thousands featuring public transportation, clean energy, and dense urban life.
According to anonymous sources, investors in Flannery Associates are a veritable who’s who of Silicon Valley, including Stripe co-founders Patrick Collison and his brother John, LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman, and entrepreneurs Daniel Gross and Nat Friedman, along with Lauren Powell Jobs and Andreessen Horowitz investors Chris Dixon and Marc Andreessen.
Andreessen Horowitz is also a company backer.
Brian Brokaw, a representative for the group of investors, told the New York Times in a statement that the investors are Californians who believe Solano County’s “best days are ahead.”
Brokaw said the group is planning to start working with residents and elected officials in Solano County as well as Travis Air Force base this week.
