That's my favorite conspiracy theory. That VCs own the property and are fine with channeling their fund's money (which isn't all or even mostly theirs) into rent.

Disclaimer- I don't really believe it's that simple.

I've seen some of that in Boulder at least. The VCs here will "strongly recommend" that you rent their office space.

Why is this a conspiracy theory? VCs are very wealthy and at least in theory financially savvy so they probably have a diversified portfolio of investments, some of which is definitely real estate. Seems obvious to me.

Haha, no, it's definitely not that simple, but it is a fun conspiracy theory. It's really to highlight the "wealth funnels up" effect which happens in a very broad and indirect way

The circle of life.