Billionaires flee California over proposed 5% wealth tax on net worth

This is a political earthquake. The wealthiest Californians are fleeing the state and taking their capital, resources and companies with them.

SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, the statewide service workers union in California, has introduced a ballot measure called “The Guardian.” Billionaire Tax ActA one-time 5% tax on the net worth of any California resident exceeding $1 billion. The tax is based on total net worth, not income, and will lose out to wealthy people who hold most of their wealth in stocks or property.

The idea has not yet been voted on, and supporters of the measure will need nearly a million signatures by the end of June before it can be put to a vote in November 2026.

But wealthy Californians are already running for the door because language in the draft measure retroactively sets the tax to Jan. 1, 2026, and they know they can’t count on their fellow Californians to reject this ridiculous proposal.

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Suzanne Jimenez, the SEIU-UHW chief of staff who introduced the measure, calls it “a very small tax.”

Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were the last survivors of California. Garry Tan, chairman and CEO of Y Combinator and a self-described “San Francisco Democrat,” explained that in X, the wealth tax would not actually be “5%” of a billionaire’s net worth.

“Larry and Sergey can’t stay in California because the wealth tax as written would seize 50% of Alphabet’s stock. They each own ~3% of Alphabet’s stock and are worth about $120 billion each at today’s market cap of ~$4 trillion. But since their shares have 10x voting power, the SEIU-UHW California billionaire tax would give them the same effect as if they owned 30% of Alphabet (3% × 10 = 30%) This means each Founder’s taxable wealth would be $1.2 trillion. A 5% wealth tax on $1.2 trillion = $60 billion tax bill for each. That’s 50% of their actual Alphabet assets, wiped out by a 5% tax.”

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This language is not a coincidence. Confiscation of assets is the ultimate plan of the socialists who wrote these proposals. In a socialist utopia, wealth should not be allowed and should be redistributed.

Chamath Palihapitiya, a tech billionaire and co-host of the “All-In” podcast, hasn’t left yet but is weighing his options. Palihapitiya notes that the number of billionaire fortunes leaving California in the last month alone “exceeds $700 billion.” He explains that the amount of wealth the proposal hopes to tax has already decreased significantly.

“That’s $2 trillion California wealth The expected tax is now down to $1.3 trillion and falling rapidly. It wouldn’t surprise me if 2026 ends with billionaire wealth in California of less than $1 trillion, decades and hundreds of lawsuits. A complete and utter unforced error. Where was the governor? Where are our leaders??”

This is a good question and especially the billionaires who support the Democratic Government. Gavin Newsom and the rest of the Democratic political machine in California must be demanding an answer.

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Palihapitiya hopes the measure will be defeated and California will work to “convince these people to come back,” or he warns that “California’s budget will be pretty much screwed.” But why would they return? Billionaires are people and moving through their lives, often uprooting their children and moving them to new schools, is not so easy to get back. Anyway, a measure like this could be reintroduced at any time, and in fact Councilman Alex LeeD-San José has implemented a similar wealth tax for years, albeit with a modest confiscation rate of only 1.5%.

But wealthy Californians are already running for the door because language in the draft measure retroactively sets the tax to Jan. 1, 2026, and they know they can’t count on their fellow Californians to reject this ridiculous proposal.

When billionaires don’t come back because they’ve built their lives elsewhere and realized there’s a world outside of California politicians will have to Let’s close the gap elsewhere. Non-billionaires are paying attention. Jesse Tinsley, founder and CEO of many companies, including Mainstreet.com, said in a statement on Sunday, January 11, “Add me to the list… I’m on my way to Florida.” Tinsley, who openly supported President Donald Trump in the last presidential election, is not a billionaire, but she sees the writing on the wall. If all billionaires bail out to avoid potential taxes, the wealthy class below them will be targeted next.

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Those who supported the terrible politicians and backward policies that led to this moment need to stay and face the consequences of their actions. Reid Hoffman, co-founder of LinkedIn and a billionaire famous for supporting Democrats, is about to become the living embodiment of the internet joke: “Leopards Eating People’s Faces” Woman who voted for Leopard Party cries: “I never thought leopards would eat MY face.” Hoffman considered leaving the US After Trump is elected in 2024 so he can’t exactly go into a red state to help protect his assets from the people he helped elect.

Bad ideas have consequences, and California has played a game of chicken with the far left, and it looks like the far left is winning. As the exodus of billionaires continues, those leaving must internalize what went wrong in their home states and aim to not repeat it in their new regions. California has become synonymous with failure. Leave failure at home.

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