Several CEOs and founders of major tech companies in California have expressed opposition to the ongoing signature collection for the “one-time” tax referendum targeting billionaires.
The “Billionaire Tax Act” in California is a ballot proposal aiming to impose a personal wealth tax on residents who live in California as of January 1, 2026 and own over $10 billion in specific types of assets. According to the proposal, the tax revenue collected will be used to fund healthcare, food assistance, and education programs.
Residents meeting the income threshold can exempt their first $10 billion in net assets, with a 55% marginal tax rate applied to the subsequent $1 billion, resulting in a $55 million tax. Net assets exceeding $11 billion will be taxed at 5%.
The proposal states that this “billionaire tax” can be paid in full for the 2026 tax year, along with the income tax owed; or taxpayers can choose to split the payment into “five equal installments,” with any remaining balance incurring a 7.5% deferred charge annually.
By the deadline of June 24, 2026, the proposal must gather over 874,641 valid signatures to qualify for inclusion on the ballot in the midterm elections in November.
Many tech industry leaders in California have vocally opposed this proposal, with some even taking action to relocate their businesses out of the state.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman stated on January 7 that taxing illiquid stocks would be a “terrible idea”. He added that this poorly designed tax system would incentivize avoidance behavior, capital outflow, and market distortions, ultimately leading to reduced tax revenue.
Venture capitalist David Sacks expressed in late last year, “Why does California need a wealth tax? Is it to foot the bill for large-scale fraud?” states like Texas and Florida, even have no income tax.
Days later, Sacks announced that his company, Craft Ventures, had established an office in Texas. Sacks had previously raised the possibility of leaving California in an episode of the “All-In Podcast” aired in October 2025, which he co-hosted with Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg.
“I don’t really want to leave California, I have been resisting it,” Sacks said. “My income tax has been raised to 13.3%. Like a frog in boiling water, I haven’t jumped out of the pot yet. But for me, with the wealth tax, I’m afraid I’ll have to jump out of the pot.”
On the same episode, Social Capital CEO Chamath Palihapitiya mentioned, “They clearly found a very smart person to draft this proposal because any Roth individual retirement account (IRA) over $10 million is counted. In regular wealth calculations, tax-deferred retirement accounts are typically excluded.”
Palihapitiya continued to address this topic on X platform on January 9, stating that over $700 billion in wealth had flowed out of California in just one month, with more outflow expected by the end of 2026.
Oculus founder and Anduril co-founder, Palmer Luckey, stated in December on X that he had already paid millions in taxes from the earnings of his first company, with the remaining funds used to establish a second company and employ thousands of workers. He added that the additional tax burden would “force founders like me to sell significant stakes in their companies.”
Palantir co-founder Joe Lonsdale expressed on X on January 7, “Special interests in healthcare are pushing for California’s wealth tax… the real solution is to benefit everyone, not drag others down.”
Last month, PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel expressed opposition to the wealth tax proposal through donations. According to donation disclosures on the California Secretary of State’s website, they donated $3 million to the political action committee “California Business Roundtable” opposing the wealth tax proposal and advocating for reduced business regulation and taxation.
Thiel also expanded his presence out of state by establishing a new office for his private investment company, Thiel Capital, in Miami.
Google co-founder Larry Page relocated some investment entities from California at the end of last year.
According to business documents submitted to the California Secretary of State’s office, several companies associated with Page were listed as “transferred out” and suspended in December 2025, including Flu Lab LLC, a flu research fund funded by Page; shell companies One Aero LLC established from investments in flying car startups Zee.Aero and Kitty Hawk; and artificial intelligence startup Dynatomics LLC founded by Page.
Google’s other co-founder Sergey Brin also moved one of his companies out of California. Investment company T-Rex LLC was “transferred out” of California in late December 2025 and registered as T-Rex Holdings in Delaware, as indicated in business registration documents in both California and Delaware.
In contrast, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated that he “completely accepts” the billionaire tax proposal. In a recent podcast interview with Bloomberg, Huang pointed out that his company operates in Silicon Valley, California, because of the talent pool there, and he is not concerned about the proposed tax structure.
The “Billionaire Tax Act” was launched in November 2025 by the SEIU-UHW union representing healthcare workers. According to the proposal, there are currently around 200 billionaires in California who meet the tax threshold, with a combined wealth of about $2 trillion. Some of the tax revenue will be used to fill a $19 billion shortfall caused by federal cuts to Medi-Cal.
California Governor Gavin Newsom has consistently opposed the push for wealth taxes in the state, stating that such policies would stifle entrepreneurship and weaken long-term income tax revenue.
In 2020, Assembly Bill 2088 was introduced in the legislature, proposing an annual wealth tax of 0.4% on residents with net assets over $30 million. The bill failed in its first committee hearing.
Two years later, Proposition 30 aimed to tax residents with income over $2 million, with the funds to be used for wildfire management and zero-emission vehicle subsidies. Newsom, together with the California Teachers Association, opposed the proposition, calling it “financially irresponsible” and stating that it would make the state’s finances more unstable.
In 2023, lawmakers once again tried to push a “global net assets” wealth tax through Assembly Bill 259. The bill included provisions allowing California to continue taxing former residents who moved out of state or abroad. This concept was strongly criticized and ultimately failed in its first committee hearing.
Regarding the latest round of wealth tax attempts, Newsom maintains his critical stance. In a December interview at The New York Times’ DealBook summit, he expressed his wish for the Democratic Party to be a “big-tent” party that can accommodate people with differing views on this issue.