Sergey Brin Pours $102 Million Into Fight Against California Billionaire Tax

Brin recently donated an additional $20 million to Building a Better California, a political advocacy group campaigning against the proposed tax and supporting business-friendly policies. His total contributions to the organization have now reached $102 million.

California’s Proposition 40, which voters will consider in November, proposes a one-time 5% tax on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires. About 90% of the expected revenue would go toward healthcare, while the remaining 10% would support education, food assistance and administrative costs.

With an estimated net worth of nearly $270 billion, Brin could face a tax bill of more than $13 billion if the measure passes.

Billionaires Rally Against the Proposal

Brin is not the only wealthy technology figure opposing Proposition 40. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have also contributed to campaigns against the measure.

Brin has compared the proposal to the socialist system he experienced in the Soviet Union before his family left the country in 1979. He has warned that California should not move toward policies he believes could harm investment and economic growth.

California Governor Gavin Newsom has also expressed opposition, arguing that the tax could encourage wealthy residents to leave the state and ultimately reduce investment in public services.

Could Wealthy Californians Leave?

Some billionaires have already taken steps to reduce their connections to California. Brin now lists Nevada as his residence, while other wealthy individuals have reportedly moved assets or established entities outside the state.

However, economists disagree over whether a billionaire exodus would seriously damage California’s finances.

A recent National Bureau of Economic Research working paper estimated that California billionaires paid about $4.1 billion in income taxes last year, representing roughly 0.2% of their combined $2 trillion wealth.

The researchers argued that even if all of California’s billionaires left, the state could potentially take decades to lose an amount equivalent to the estimated $100 billion Proposition 40 could generate over five years.

The debate therefore remains focused on whether taxing billionaires would provide California with a major new source of revenue—or encourage wealthy residents and their businesses to relocate elsewhere.

Source: Fortune

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