California billionaires are pouring millions into a campaign to defeat a proposed “one-time” wealth tax that would seize 5% of their net worth. Proposition 40, which will appear on the Nov. 3, 2026, ballot, would apply to billionaires who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026 — but the state’s wealthiest residents aren’t going down without a fight.
Wealth Tax — Millions for Billions
John Doerr, a venture capitalist worth an estimated $22.6 billion, gave $7.5 million to the political action committee Building a Better California, which is fighting Proposition 40. Chris Larsen, executive chair of the tech company Ripple, who is worth more than $11 billion, also contributed $10 million to the PAC, according to campaign finance records, the Financial Times reported. Google cofounder Sergey Brin also added $20 million to the pot in early August.
Other ultra-wealthy individuals have chipped in as well, including Lookout co-founder John Hering, who donated $946,000, and Greenoaks Capital founder Neil Mehta, who gave $250,000.
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office (LAO), the self-described nonpartisan fiscal and policy adviser for the California legislature, billionaires hit with the tax would have to pay it next year, although they do have the option to spread the payments out over five years – for an additional fee, of course. The tax would “generally” exclude real estate, pensions, and retirement accounts.
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The office explained that “most of the money [collected] must be spent on health care.” That sounds swell until one considers the US Department of Justice’s recent health care fraud takedown. Federal law enforcement arrested five Southern California defendants in June, including one woman who was part of a “scheme that submitted nearly $270 million in fraudulent claims to Medi-Cal for expensive prescription drugs” and a man who allegedly ran hospice companies that “fraudulently billed Medicare $27 million.”
The LAO noted that 90% of the wealth tax money would have to be spent on health care services, and the rest would go to education, food assistance, and administrative needs. Maybe California should get its health care fraud under control first before it starts demanding its wealthiest residents fork over even more of their money to pay for a system that’s already hemorrhaging taxpayer dollars.
Voters Divided
A poll conducted by UC Berkeley’s Institute of Governmental Studies found California voters are basically split on the proposed wealth tax, although slightly more support the measure (48%) than oppose it (41%).
The political breakdown went as expected: 70% of Democrats support the new tax while 80% of Republicans oppose it. Independent voters were divided on the issue, with 50% supporting it and 39% opposing it.
"These results suggest that the Billionaires Tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state's traditionally Democratic-leaning voters," said Institute of Governmental Studies co-director Eric Schickler.
Wealth taxes have been tried before, and, perhaps needless to say, they don’t go over well with the ultra-rich: On the same day that Washington state’s legislature passed its own wealth tax, Howard Schultz, former billionaire CEO of Starbucks, announced that he and his wife had moved to Miami, FL. Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, also relocated from the Evergreen State to Florida in 2023. You might be wondering: Why are billionaires attracted to Florida? Well, it doesn’t have an income tax or a wealth tax. Perhaps Californians on the fence should take note.
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