Billionaires in Silicon Valley, including Larry Page, are pushing back strongly against a proposed wealth tax in California, threatening to leave the state rather than pay.
According to CNBC on Wednesday, progressive Democratic lawmakers in California and the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) are pushing for a "billionaire tax" that would impose a one-time 5% property tax on individuals with net worth exceeding $1 billion (approximately 1.4 trillion won). The proponents are collecting approximately 875,000 signatures needed to put the measure on the ballot in November. They argue the tax is necessary to address severe wealth inequality in the state and fill healthcare budget shortfalls resulting from federal budget cuts.
If the bill passes, 214 billionaires in California would be subject to the tax. Top targets include Silicon Valley heavyweights such as Google co-founder Larry Page with a net worth of $256.2 billion (approximately 370 trillion won), Oracle founder Larry Ellison ($246.1 billion), Google co-founder Sergey Brin ($236.4 billion), Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg ($225.1 billion), and Nvidia founder Jensen Huang ($162.6 billion).
As the wealth tax proposal gains momentum, big tech moguls are reportedly making moves to relocate to other states. According to The New York Times, Page has recently been transferring some of his companies to Florida. Associates said Palantir CEO Peter Thiel has also decided to move his investment firm Thiel Capital's offices to another state.
However, analysts believe the bill faces an uphill battle. The technology industry is strongly opposed, and Governor Gavin Newsom has also expressed opposition, citing concerns about wealthy residents fleeing the state.
Nevertheless, discussions about wealth taxes are active across the United States. Washington State Governor Bob Ferguson, whose state hosts Amazon and Microsoft headquarters, recently requested the legislature to impose a 9.9% tax on individual income exceeding $1 million. New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani has also pledged to raise income taxes on millionaires.
