Joe Gebbia, billionaire co-founder of Airbnb ABNB and current Tesla TSLA board member, is back in the spotlight for joining the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency.
One of the agency’s goals is purportedly to overhaul the outdated, paper-based federal retirement system and replace it with something fast, modern, and, in his words, “beautifully designed.”
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“We really believe that the government can be an Apple Store–like experience: beautifully designed, great user experience, modern systems,” Gebbia said during a recent Fox News interview alongside Elon Musk and other DOGE team members.”We can use design to solve [problems] and good engineering and create a better experience for everybody.”
Right now, the process of retiring as a federal employee is stuck in the past—literally. The New York Times reported that the applications are handled using 28,000 filing cabinets stored in a limestone cave in western Pennsylvania, a system that’s been in place since the 1970s. According to Gebbia, the process still takes months to complete.
In the Fox News interview, Musk said DOGE ran into a bottleneck after offering early retirement packages to hundreds of thousands of workers, only to find the government could process just 8,000 retirements per month.
Gebbia Joins DOGE
Gebbia joined DOGE earlier this year after a conversation with Musk and fellow team member Anthony Armstrong, a former Morgan Stanley MS banker. “They told me something about a mine that dealt with retirement, and they said that they need somebody to help out to fix retirement in the government. I love the challenge, so I jumped on board.”
But not everyone is thrilled. As Forbes reported last month, news of Gebbia’s DOGE role has sparked backlash among Airbnb hosts and guests, with hundreds of negative comments appearing on the platform’s community portal. Some users have even threatened to stop using Airbnb. Complaints range from “I am extremely disturbed” to “Joe Gebbia cannot remain on the board.”
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Airbnb has tried to calm the waters. Spokesperson Christopher Nulty told Forbes, “Joe is joining DOGE in his personal capacity” and emphasized that his “personal views don’t reflect the views of Airbnb or Airbnb.org.”
Gebbia has not had an operational role at Airbnb since 2022 but remains on the board. He also sits on the board at Tesla and is reportedly a close associate of Musk. According to Forbes, he holds a 7% stake in Airbnb, worth around $8.6 billion, and recently sold $30.4 million worth of Airbnb stock in February.
His political activity has also raised eyebrows. While his Airbnb co-founders Brian Chesky and Nate Blecharczyk have supported Democratic candidates, Gebbia donated tens of thousands to Libertarian causes and nearly $178,000 to Robert F. Kennedy Jr.‘s campaign.
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