California Billionaires Throw Millions at Housing to Avoid Actually Paying Taxes
KEY POINTS
- •Sergey Brin donated $20 million in January to support California affordable housing ballot measures.
- •Other tech leaders like Eric Schmidt and Max Levchin also contributed millions amid looming 5% wealth tax plans.
- •Billionaires moved assets and funneled donations to counter the tax scheduled to hit retroactively in 2027.
In a move that screams "please don’t tax me," Google cofounder Sergey Brin dropped a casual $20 million in January to fund California affordable housing ballot measures, while PayPal boss Max Levchin tossed in a cool million, and ex-Google CEO Eric Schmidt added $2 million to the mix. This billionaires’ generosity bonanza, born from the group 'Building a Better California,' is the financial equivalent of shifting deck chairs before California's proposed 5% one-time wealth tax sinks their yachts in 2027. Larry Page smartly hit the Delaware exit with an LLC, while Peter Thiel waved $3 million against the tax from the sidelines. Meanwhile, Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang chilled, hailing taxes as the price for Silicon Valley’s talent pool – maybe he drinks a lot of ramen.
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Nothing screams 'we love California!' like moving LLCs to Delaware while dumping millions to 'fix' problems to dodge a 5% billionaire tax. It's charity, or a very expensive loophole sculpting session.
Watching billionaires fight a tax by throwing cash at housing feels like seeing drug dealers spend weed profits on anti-marijuana lobbyists.
Sergey Brin’s donation bonanza is peak billionaire logic: 'Let me fund this cause just hard enough so you stop trying to tax me.'
Source: Businessinsider | Published: 1/29/2026 | Author: Aditi Bharade
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