Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt have banded together with some of Silicon Valley’s wealthiest moguls to create a new, pro-business organization that is poised to lobby against the proposed billionaire tax in California.
The organization, Building a Better California, is planning to wield its influence by backing political candidates and ballot initiatives throughout the state, according to Bloomberg News.
A key priority for the group is opposing a one-time 5% wealth tax on billionaires in California, which is scheduled to be on the ballot this coming November.
The fine print of the proposal shows company founders’ voting shares in their businesses would be treated as equivalent to ownership — artificially inflating how much wealth they have and raising their tax bill.
This has “the potential to strip the founders of some of the world’s largest companies of their controlling interests and force them to sell off a significant portion of their shares,” noted the nonprofit Tax Foundation. “This could send stock prices plummeting to the detriment of tech employees and investors of all stripes, including ordinary workers.”
There’s also concern that the tax could be applied to people who aren’t super-rich.
“The fine print in the bill allows the California legislature to apply this asset tax to non-billionaires as well whenever they want. Your car, home and jewelry would all count,” former Facebook exec Chamath Palihapitiya recently wrote on X.
“California isn’t coming just for the rich,” he added. “This bill, while disguised as a tax on the wealthy, is actually the infrastructure to tax everyone in California even more – but now on everything you own.”
Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom has come out against the wealth tax, noting the introduction of the proposal has already driven some billionaires out of the state.
“This will be defeated — there’s no question in my mind,” he said earlier this month. “I’ll do what I have to do to protect the state.”
Campaign filings cited by Bloomberg News show that Building a Better California has raised $35 million, including a $20 million donation from Brin.
Building a Better California has already spent $11 million backing ballot initiatives aimed at boosting middle-class homeownership and reforming California’s environmental review law.
Brin previously approached other business leaders about raising hundreds of millions of dollars for a California influence campaign.
According to Bloomberg News, he made the pitch to other tech industry figures using the encrypted messaging service Signal.
Others said to be involved in the initiative include crypto billionaire Chris Larsen, venture capitalist Mike Moritz, DoorDash co-founder Tony Xu and tech investors John Doerr, Max Levchin and Patrick Collison.
Stewart Resnick, co-owner of The Wonderful Company, donated $2 million — the largest contribution from a donor outside of tech, according to Bloomberg News.
Abby Lunardini, a spokesperson for Building a Better California, told Bloomberg News the group has not yet taken a formal stance on the wealth tax, calling it “early days” and noting their focus on expanding middle-class homeownership.
The group is expected to support extending a temporary tax on incomes over $250,000 that funds schools and health care and is set to expire in 2030.
The Post has sought comment from Building a Better California.
The wealth tax proposal has sparked a sharp backlash from members of the tech elite before it has even reached the ballot.
The measure, backed by the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West, would apply retroactively to anyone living in the state as of Jan. 1, and is projected to raise roughly $50 billion to $60 billion if approved by voters in November.
Several of California’s wealthiest residents have already taken steps to leave or scale back their presence in the Golden State.
Brin terminated or relocated multiple California companies, shifted entities to Nevada and listed a Reno address on political filings. His Google co-founder Larry Page has moved dozens of California-linked entities out of state and purchased hundreds of millions of dollars in Florida real estate.
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel has expanded his footprint in Florida, while investor David Sacks relocated from San Francisco to Austin, Texas, before the Jan. 1 cutoff.
Tax advisers say a number of other billionaires got out of Dodge before the deadline.
Others have said they plan to stay put — at least for now.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, one of the richest people in California who potentially faces one of the largest individual tax bills, said he is “perfectly fine” with paying the tax and remaining in Silicon Valley.
Real estate developer John Sobrato has also said he is not moving, though he expects the measure to fail.
Meanwhile, tech investor Chamath Palihapitiya has publicly said he is giving “serious consideration” to leaving the state.
