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It’s a political earthquake. The wealthiest Californians are fleeing the state and taking their capital, assets and firms with them.
The SEIU United Healthcare Staff West, a statewide union of service staff in California, launched a poll measure known as the Billionaire Tax Act, to implement a one-time 5% tax on the web price over $1 billion on any California resident. The tax is on complete internet price, not revenue, and would snag wealthy individuals who have the majority of their wealth in inventory or property.
The concept has but to be voted on, and supporters of the measure will want almost one million signatures by late June to get it on the poll for November 2026.
However rich Californians are already operating for the door as a result of the language within the draft of the measure units the tax retroactively to January 1, 2026, they usually know they’ll’t depend on their fellow Californians to vote down the absurd proposal.
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Google co-founder Larry Web page and Oracle founder Larry Ellison change into a number of the newest high-profile California enterprise leaders to divest from the state. (Eric Risberg/AP Picture; AP)
Suzanne Jimenez, a chief of workers for SEIU-UHW who launched the measure, calls it “a really minor tax.”
Larry Web page and Sergey Brin, co-founders of Google, are the newest to bail on California. Garry Tan, president & CEO of Y Combinator and self-described “San Francisco Democrat” defined on X that the wealth tax wouldn’t really find yourself being “5%” of a billionaire’s internet price.
“Larry and Sergey can’t keep in California for the reason that wealth tax as written would confiscate 50% of their Alphabet shares. Every personal ~3% of Alphabet’s inventory, price about $120 billion every at right now’s ~$4 trillion market cap. However as a result of their shares have 10x voting energy, the SEIU-UHW California billionaire tax would deal with them as proudly owning 30% of Alphabet (3% × 10 = 30%). Which means every founder’s taxable wealth could be $1.2 trillion. A 5% wealth tax on $1.2 trillion = $60 billion tax invoice, every. That is 50% of their precise Alphabet holdings—worn out by a ‘5%’ tax.”
This language isn’t an accident. Asset seizure is the last word plan of the socialists writing these proposals. Wealth isn’t to be permitted within the socialist utopia and have to be redistributed.
Chamath Palihapitiya, a tech billionaire and one of many hosts of the “All-In” podcast, hasn’t left but however is weighing his choices. Palihapitiya places the variety of billionaire wealth that has left California in simply the final month “in extra of $700B.” He explains that the quantity of wealth the proposal hoped to tax has already considerably decreased.
“Which means the $2T of California wealth they anticipated to tax is now right down to $1.3T and falling shortly. I’d not be shocked if 2026 ended with lower than $1T of billionaire wealth in California and many years and tons of of lawsuits. A whole and complete unforced error. The place was the Governor? The place are our leaders??”
That’s query, and billionaires who particularly supported Democrat Gov. Gavin Newsom and the remainder of the Democratic political equipment in California ought to be demanding a solution.
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Palihapitiya is hoping the measure is voted down and California will work to “entice these people to come back again” or, he warns, “the California finances can be massively the other way up.” However why would they return? Billionaires are human and transferring their whole lives, usually uprooting their youngsters and transferring them to new colleges, isn’t so easy to undo. And anyway, a measure like this might be launched once more at any time and, in truth, Assemblymember Alex Lee, D-San José, has for years pushed the same wealth tax albeit at solely a modest 1.5% confiscation price.
However rich Californians are already operating for the door as a result of the language within the draft of the measure units the tax retroactively to January 1, 2026, they usually know they’ll’t depend on their fellow Californians to vote down the absurd proposal.
When the billionaires don’t return, as a result of they’ve arrange their lives elsewhere and realized a complete world exists exterior California, the politicians will have to make up the shortfall elsewhere. Non-billionaires are paying consideration. Jesse Tinsley, CEO and founding father of a number of firms together with Mainstreet.com, introduced on Sunday, Jan. 11, “Add me to the listing…headed to Florida.” Tinsley, who overtly supported President Donald Trump within the final presidential election, isn’t a billionaire however he sees the writing on the wall. If all of the billionaires bail to keep away from the potential tax, the category of rich under them can be focused subsequent.
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Those that supported the horrible politicians and backward insurance policies that led to this second ought to have to remain and cope with the results of what they’ve achieved. Reid Hoffman, a co-founder of LinkedIn and a billionaire well-known for supporting Democrats, is about to change into the dwelling embodiment of the web joke, “I by no means thought leopards would eat MY face,’ sobs girl who voted for the Leopards Consuming Individuals’s Faces Get together.” Hoffman thought-about leaving the USA after Trump was elected in 2024 so he can’t precisely bolt for a purple state to assist shield his belongings from the very folks he helped elect.
Unhealthy concepts have penalties and California has performed a recreation of rooster with the far left and it seems to be just like the far left is profitable. Because the billionaire exodus continues, these exiting ought to internalize what went mistaken of their house state and purpose to not repeat it of their new locale. California has change into synonymous with failure. Depart that failure at house.
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