Sergey Brin Spends $102 Million to Fight California's 5% Billionaire Tax

3 articles · Updated · NPR · Aug 20

$102 million from Sergey Brin is leading a multimillionaire campaign to defeat California's Proposition 40, a November ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on roughly 250 billionaires.
The measure was designed to offset nearly $100 billion in projected California losses from Trump's federal cuts to healthcare and food assistance over five years, with 90% of revenue earmarked for healthcare.
Opponents including Brin, Governor Gavin Newsom, some unions and tax-policy critics argue the tax could drive wealthy residents out and worsen California's long-term budget risk, since 1% of residents pay nearly 50% of personal income taxes.
Backers say the tax applies to people who were California residents in January, limiting post-election moves to avoid it, though critics say it could still deter future billionaires from living in the state.
Polls show voters are nearly evenly split, leaving the first-of-its-kind wealth-tax fight poised to test how far California will go to plug federal funding cuts.