From the New York Times, December 26:
It’s uncertain whether the proposal will reach the statewide ballot in November, but some billionaires like Peter Thiel and Larry Page may be unwilling to take the risk.
Billionaires including Peter Thiel, the tech venture capitalist, and Larry Page, a co-founder of Google, are considering cutting or reducing their ties to California by the end of the year because of a proposed ballot measure that could tax the state’s wealthiest residents, according to five people familiar with their thinking.
Mr. Thiel, 58, who owns a home in the Hollywood Hills and operates a personal investment firm from Los Angeles, has explored opening an office for that firm, Thiel Capital, in another state and spending more time outside California, three of the people said.
Other billionaires who appear to be making moves to decrease their presence in California include Mr. Page, 52, a longtime resident of Palo Alto. He has discussed leaving the state by the end of the year, according to two people briefed on the talks. In mid-December, three limited liability companies associated with Mr. Page filed documents to incorporate in Florida, according to state records.
The moves are being driven by a potential California ballot measure from the health care union, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the people said. The proposal calls for California residents worth more than $1 billion to be taxed the equivalent of 5 percent of their assets.
If the measure gains enough signatures to reach the state ballot in November and wins approval, it will retroactively apply to anyone who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026. Those with $20 billion in assets who resided in the state on that date would face a one-time tax of $1 billion and have five years to pay it, according to the terms of the measure.
Whether the proposal will reach California’s ballot is far from certain, but some billionaires may be unwilling to take the risk. For Mr. Page, whose net worth is estimated at $258 billion, the measure could result in a one-time tax of more than $12 billion. The tax bill for Mr. Thiel, whose net worth is around $27.5 billion, could be more than $1.2 billion.
Representatives for Mr. Page and Mr. Thiel did not respond to requests for comment.
The potential wealth tax is under debate as the income divide in the United States becomes increasingly stark. Recent data from the Congressional Budget Office showed that income inequality increased over a 33-year period ending in 2022, with the share of wealth held by families in the top 10 percent at around 69 percent, while the share held by families in the bottom 50 percent at just 3 percent.
In California, the S.E.I.U.-U.H.W. has said the proposed tax measure could raise up to $100 billion from about 200 billionaires. The money could be used to offset federal budget cuts, the union has said.
Suzanne Jimenez, the chief of staff at S.E.I.U.-U.H.W., said the organization was trying to fill a funding gap for the state’s health care industry. “We looked at how could we generate the revenue to fix this kind of hole, and this group of folks just made sense,” she said, adding that California billionaires were the “most fortunate people in this state.”....
....MUCH MORE
I'll use the intro to a mid-November post as the outro from this one:
possible amount of feathers with the smallest possible amount of hissing.”
—attributed to Jean-Baptiste Colbert, Controller-General of Finance (1668-83) under Louis XIV of France.
As seen in November 17's "Norway's Wealth Tax Unchains a Capital Exodus".
Looking ahead, it might be nice to find a case to bring to the Supreme Court to overturn Citizens United and get unions and other corporations out of politics.
