Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel handed over nearly 3,000 pages of private emails Thursday as a result of a settlement with the Better Government Association, a government watchdog organization that sued for access to the electronic communication.
Among the emails are several correspondences with top figures in tech--both in Chicago and nationally. Conversations include Emanuel asking Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos to open a Chicago data and distribution center, multiple emails with well-known Silicon Valley VC Marc Andreessen regarding Airbnb regulation (Andreessen is an investor in the home sharing startup), and Emanuel emailed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff about taking part in a Chicago initiative to increase the city's internet connectivity.
Below is a collection of some of the tech conversations Emanuel has had since 2012. You can search Emanuel's emails here.
- In 2013 Emanuel sent an email to Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos about moving a data center, distribution center and regional marketing center to Chicago. "While this is below you, this is very important to me and would like to know if there any chance to set up a phone call with you to discuss?" Emanuel wrote. Bezos responded by adding Amazon's head of global fulfillment to the thread. Amazon leased a small warehouse space on Goose Island in 2015, but the majority of its Illinois operations are in the suburbs.
- In 2013 tech VC Marc Andreessen emailed Emanuel to introduce him to Brian Chesky, the CEO of Airbnb. Andreessen wrote to inform Emanuel about a nonprofit Chesky and others had started to make the sharing economy a "dominant economic model in the 21st century." Andreessen told Emanuel "I think your input would be really valuable and I think this could be a big deal for Chicago and its economic future."
- Andreessen emailed Emanuel again in 2015 about home sharing regulations in Chicago, asking for a phone call to discuss the shifting home sharing regulatory landscape. "You may have seen the anti-home sharing Proposition F got shellacked in SF last week -- but we want to keep putting our best foot forward as each city figures out the right path for itself," Andreessen wrote. "I will have my staff arrange," Emanuel replied.
- Emanuel got an email from Cleversafe founder Chris Gladwin in 2016 about how Gladwin could help make the Chicago Library "get more digital." Gladwin said Cleversafe, which the year before sold to IBM for $1.3 billion, could help with data storage. Gladwin also dropped some info on his new startup, which he said will "likely focus on computing (vs storage)" and will have the "potential to have an outcome like Cleversafe."
- Emanuel emailed Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff directly in 2015 to ask if he would be "personally involved with our Connect Chicago Challenge," an initiative to increase internet access in neighborhoods that need it the most. "We're excited to see Salesforce continue their growth in Chicago," Emanuel concluded in the email.
- Emanuel regularly received emails from 1871 CEO Howard Tullman. One of the more interesting conversations centered around an email from Tullman that suggested that McDonald's was close to considering the Merchandise Mart the home for its digital office in River North. "Koch (referring to Deputy Mayor Steve Koch) called McD ceo yesterday and they said MART was their first choice," Tullman wrote in December 2014. "It would be huge to have them add 250 digital jobs in 2015 in the mart. The more pushes the better." McDonald's ultimately opened the office at 414 N. Orleans St.
- In 2015, David Plouffe, a strategist for Uber, wrote to Emanuel about concerns around Uber's ability to make pick ups and drop offs at Chicago's airports. "Assume both of us thought the airport issue was settled and we would never have to discuss again, but unfortunately two significant new hurdles were introduced," Plouffe said. "Coming to you because of their severity that would prevent us from operating." Emanuel, who was in China at the time, replied: "Please speak to Negron and David on my staff. Impossible for me to address from china."
- Braintree CEO Bill Ready emailed Emanuel in 2012 about the payment company's acquisition of Venmo, and the impact it would have on the city's tech scene. "Chicago is HQ for us and this means we're likely to add those (150 jobs in Chicago) even faster than before," Ready wrote. "Not because we're moving people from Venmo to Chicago, but because this will grow the business even faster and Chicago is home base. Just wanted to be sure you're armed with info and aware of the great news for Chicago's tech scene." Rahm replied: "I hope you are as happy with the press coverage as I am. Once your employees get settled in Chicago, I'd love to do a town hall with them. Talk to you."
These emails show the level of comfort Emanuel has chatting with tech leaders, and the mayor's efforts, using those relationships, to improve the city's image as a tech hub. The communications don't have a "smoking gun" when it comes to tech, but there was an awkward email from US Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood who wrote Emanuel asking permission to run a pro-Uber op/ed in the Chicago Tribune. "I do not want to say or do anything to hurt or jeopardize you and your efforts," LaHood wrote.
Mostly, Emanuel's emails show a mayor who has a casual relationship with some of the most important people in tech. And they are, for the most part, representative of his public statements on the importance of strengthening the city's technology sector.
