SACRAMENTO, Calif. (KTXL) — Billionaire venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya has donated $100,000 to the effort to recall California Governor Gavin Newsom, sources confirmed to Inside California Politics.

Earlier this week, Palihapitiya tweeted his intention to run for governor.

Wet your beak California. 0% taxes, best paid teachers in the country and a bonanza of climate friendly jobs. https://t.co/gfoPSXziuL pic.twitter.com/3QcqZUfFoI

— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) January 26, 2021

Palihapitiya, a former Facebook executive, Social Capital CEO and current chairman of Virgin Galactic, joins businessman John Cox and former San Diego Mayor Kevin Faulconer in supporting the recall effort.

Cox confirmed to Inside California Politics this week that he will run against Newsom if the recall effort gets enough verified signatures. Faulconer has also launched an exploratory committee for his own gubernatorial campaign.

For a recall election to take place, organizers must collect nearly 1.5 million signatures by March 17.  

So far, organizers say they have collected 1.2 million signatures. As of Jan. 6, only 410,087 of those signatures have been verified by the secretary of state.

If the required signatures are collected and verified, a recall election would take place later this year. 

Newsom has faced increasing criticism for his response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

This is a developing story.