Six of California’s 214 billionaires have been widely reported to have left the state in time to avoid a proposed 5% wealth tax — but that small cohort would have collectively generated $27 billion in tax revenue, roughly a fourth of the initiative’s projected $100 billion haul.
Last November, panic erupted over the announcement of a proposed billionaire’s tax in California. The tax would levy a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents with assets worth at least $1 billion. California’s progressive governor, Gavin Newsom, emerged as the measure’s biggest opponent and vowed to stop the tax to “protect” the state’s tech industry and overall economy.
Before the Jan. 1, 2026, cutoff proposed in the initiative, Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel have left California for Miami. Car loan magnate and LA native Don Hankey left the state for Las Vegas. Former Uber CEO Travis Kalanick recently announced he had left California for Texas in December. Director Steven Spielberg became a New York City resident on New Year’s Day, according to the Los Angeles Times, although his representative said the Jaws director had long planned to move to be closer to family.
