California Billionaires Threaten to Bail, Because Paying Taxes Is Hard

KEY POINTS

•California labor unions proposed a 5% one-time tax on residents holding assets above $1 billion to fix a budget deficit.
•Billionaire executives like Bill Ackman and Palmer Luckey publicly opposed the tax, warning it would harm innovation and force massive company sales.
•Representative Ro Khanna supported the measure, arguing it would combat inequality and wouldn’t stop companies like Nvidia from thriving.

In a dazzling display of billionaires collectively clutching their pearls, California's proposed 5% one-time wealth tax on assets over $1 billion (starting January 1, 2026) has prompted CEOs and founders to threaten permanent moves faster than a Tesla launch. Pershing Square’s Bill Ackman inveighed against ‘expropriation of private property’ while subtly admitting billionaires dodge income tax by loaning against their own stocks. Oculus founder Palmer Luckey lamented having to ‘sell huge chunks’ after shelling out millions in past taxes, ignoring companies wanting to plow revenue into R&D rather than juicy cash grabs. Meanwhile, Y Combinator’s Garry Tan agonized over killing ‘little tech’ startups as unicorns remain 'paper billionaires'. Congressman Ro Khanna was nearly alone shining a nerdy beacon of hope, insisting Nvidia would bloom even with taxes dangling over it like a Silicon Valley sword. David Sacks, the crypto-ai White House czar, called Democrats ‘stealing everything’ then blaming job creators, threatening to jump out of boiling California like a frog on a hot stove. This tax relief sounds less like tax relief, more like 'goodbye, wealth!'