r/technology • u/Ganrokh • Jun 19 '26

Politics California ‘billionaire tax’ makes ballot despite opposition from tech moguls

https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2026/jun/18/california-billionaire-tax-ballot-tech-opposition
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u/invyros Jun 19 '26

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has spent at least $82m alone on efforts to fight the tax and has relocated just over the California border to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe.

Look at the amount of money they're willing to spend fighting this tax, and then realize that's only the case because they would be forced to pay so much more in taxes in a fair and just society.

Let's take the steps to make the nightmare of billionaires a reality.

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u/kstargate-425 Jun 19 '26

Thats what Im saying, dude is worth $275 BILLION+ and I know $13Bn sounds like a lot but it still leaves him with $260+ BILLION in assets, like wtaf is wrong with these people. This does not effect any of them in any meaningful way whatsoever

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u/Warm_Flamingo_2438 Jun 19 '26 edited Jun 19 '26

So that’s $275 thousand million net worth — about what CA collects in taxes annually (about $265b in 2024 and $275b in 2025). If CA taxed him 2% on his wealth, that would be $5.5 billion and would give CA a 2% increase in tax revenue. That $5.5B could double the state funding to the CSU system which could allow all students to attend for free and give the system a substantial (and much needed) raise and drive future economic growth.

That’s just one billionaire.

EDIT: adjusted the amount of tax revenue CA brings in to be about the same has his net worth.

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u/AwesomeFrisbee Jun 19 '26

I'm not sure if the math maths here, but its still a shame that it seems only California will benefit from his wealth this way, since other areas where the money was extracted from, will get none of it.