Lurie Taps Ex-Twitter Exec to Tackle SF’s Housing Shortage and Economic Rebound

San Francisco Mayor-elect Daniel Lurie announced Wednesday that he has selected a tech and finance veteran as chief of housing and economic development, a new position created by Lurie in his attempt to rework City Hall.

Ned Segal, who, like Lurie, has no prior government experience, will oversee some of San Francisco’s biggest challenges: meeting a state mandate to create nearly 80,000 housing units as well as helping dig the city out of an economic slump. He’ll have to do so in the face of a more than $800 million budget deficit.

“Ned embodies the kind of innovative leadership San Francisco desperately needs to tackle our most pressing challenges,” Lurie said. “With his strong background in the private sector, a deep love for San Francisco backed by extensive civic engagement, and a track record of delivering results, Ned is uniquely positioned to lead the revitalization of downtown, accelerate housing production, and drive economic growth in our City.”

Segal previously served as Twitter’s chief financial officer and was among a group of top executives that Elon Musk ousted shortly after purchasing the social media website in 2022 and rebranding it X. He and three other former Twitter executives sued Musk in March for more than $128 million in unpaid severance, alleging they were fired without cause.

Segal also sits on the board of Tipping Point Community, the anti-poverty nonprofit that Lurie founded and ran prior to running for mayor as an “outsider” campaigning against career politicians in City Hall who he said created the problems they were trying to solve. He has also served on the boards of large companies, including RingCentral, BostonGene and Beyond Meat.

Segal is also an alum of Goldman Sachs, where he worked for nearly 17 years advising technology companies on mergers, acquisitions and other equity and debt financings.

He lives with his wife and three children in San Francisco, where he grew up and got one of his earliest jobs as a hot dog vendor at Candlestick Park from 1988–92.

“As a city known for its innovation and boundless potential, San Francisco has long been a beacon of creativity and growth,” Segal said in a statement. “Under the bold leadership of Mayor-elect Lurie, we have a mandate to reimagine what’s possible and I feel great urgency to deliver.”

The pick is Lurie’s first as he begins to round out a new group of four policy directors who will report directly to him, overseeing the city’s 56 agencies. They will work alongside the chief of staff rather than having a single chief of staff and one policy director reporting to the mayor.

In addition to Segal covering housing and economic development, the other three yet-to-be-named policy directors will oversee infrastructure, climate and mobility; public health and well-being; and public safety.

Lurie recently named former Giants Vice President Staci Slaughter as his chief of staff, as well as longtime City Hall staffer Matthew Goudeau, who served as a senior adviser on his campaign, as deputy chief of staff. And political strategist Han Zou, who worked on Lurie’s campaign this year as well as earlier campaigns for Assemblymember Matt Haney and Congresswoman-elect Lateefah Simon, will be director of public affairs.