California’s rich paying $3M to escape to New Zealand’s South Island

Wealthy Californians are fleeing the Golden State’s punishing policies for the snow-capped Southern Alps in New Zealand.

A surge of wealthy Americans, particularly Californians, are snapping up “golden visas,” where they pay at least NZ$5 million — roughly $2.9 million — to secure the right to live, work and study in the country, the Financial Times reports.

A separate program requires a NZ$10 million, or about US$5.7 million, investment in passive assets.

More than 700 wealthy foreigners have applied under the revamped programs in just 14 months –many from California — compared with 115 applications during the previous three years.

One property agent, Jo Eddington, said she spent three weeks in June speaking with wealthy potential buyers from San Diego and Beverly Hills looking at the mountain enclave of Queenstown on South Island.

Lachlan Nixon, founding partner of venture capital firm Motion Capital, told the FT that having the “golden visa “is becoming a badge of honor in Silicon Valley.”

Since the rules were loosened in April 2025, applicants from North America, Europe and Asia have committed about NZ$4.8 billion to the country. 

The exodus comes as California prepares for a November vote on a first-of-its-kind one-time tax of up to 5% on the assets of people and trusts with more than $1 billion in covered wealth.

The measure, backed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, would direct 90% of the proceeds to healthcare and the remaining 10% toward food assistance or education programs. State officials say it could generate tens of billions of dollars over several years. 

The measure qualified for the ballot after clearing the required signature threshold and is now Proposition 40.

Supporters argue California needs the cash to plug holes in health care funding following federal cuts.

The California Democratic Party and California Labor Federation have since endorsed the proposal, adding political muscle to the campaign. 

But the proposal has also triggered a furious backlash from some of the very billionaires it would target.

Gov. Gavin Newsom has opposed the state-only tax, warning that it could drive wealthy residents and their businesses out of California. His office has argued that the measure could ultimately hurt funding for schools, clinics and public safety.

Silicon Valley heavyweight Sergey Brin has poured tens of millions of dollars into the fight against the tax, while billionaire-backed groups have pushed competing ballot measures intended to make the wealth levy more difficult to implement.

And some billionaires have already made their exits.

Google co-founders Larry Page and Brin, venture capitalist Peter Thiel, Los Angeles lending magnate Don Hankey, former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick and filmmaker Steven Spielberg were among six billionaires publicly reported to have left California before the proposed Jan. 1, 2026 residency cutoff. Their combined fortunes were estimated to represent roughly $27 billion in potential tax revenue. 

The list is not necessarily the end of the flight.

Meta chief Mark Zuckerberg and venture capitalist David Sacks have also been reported to have moved away, although their circumstances and timing differ from those who departed before the tax’s cutoff. 

New Zealand, meanwhile, is pitching itself as the ultimate billionaire bolt-hole.

The country’s Prime Minister Christopher Luxon hopes the visa program can reverse a “brain drain” while importing foreign capital, entrepreneurial experience and connections.

New Zealand start-ups are already benefiting, he told the Financial Times.

“At a time when everyone around the world is tightening up their settings, we’ve opened that up, and we’ve been a great beneficiary of the capital coming into our start-ups, but also the knowledge and know-how to come into those start-ups as well,” Luxon said.

The appeal is particularly strong in Silicon Valley.

“It is becoming a badge of honour in Silicon Valley,” said Lachlan Nixon, founding partner of venture capital firm Motion Capital.

Of the applicants, 277 are Americans, with Californians among the most enthusiastic.

Nixon said he had recruited 30 golden-visa holders who subsequently supplied about 40% of a NZ$27 million fundraising round for several New Zealand companies.

“There’s a huge wall of money coming but the calibre of these people now investing in the New Zealand economy is what’s important,” Nixon said.

Among the businesses benefiting are critical-minerals company Zethos, magnesium producer Aspiring Materials and seed-protein and oil company Miruku.

Even Rocket Lab founder Sir Peter Beck, whose aerospace company competes with Elon Musk’s SpaceX, believes New Zealand is charging too little.

“The country is underselling itself,” Beck told the Financial Times.

For those who want to disappear from the California spotlight, Queenstown is proving particularly attractive.

The spectacular resort town sits beneath the Southern Alps and has become New Zealand’s most expensive property market, with a median home price around NZ$1.8 million — roughly twice the national average.

Golden visa holders, however, face restrictions designed to prevent them from distorting the housing market and can only buy property above the NZ$5 million threshold. 

Property agent Jo Eddington recently spent weeks courting potential applicants in San Diego and Beverly Hills. Many already knew Queenstown, with its private-jet traffic and luxury amenities.

“There’s a lot of billionaires here. They just wear gumboots,” Eddington said.

The town’s billionaire hideaways include Peter Thiel and Anthony Malkin, the New York businessman whose family trust owns the Empire State Building. Locals have dubbed such wealthy arrivals “sleepers in the hills,” according to the Times.

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