Late last year, the architects of California’s “Billionaire Wealth Tax” ballot proposition quietly amended language in their proposal which, if successful, would permanently end the concept of founder-controlled startups in the state — a technology industry kill switch…
Per the late November amendment:
“(C) For any interests that confer voting or other direct control rights, the percentage of the business entity owned by the taxpayer shall be presumed to be not less than the taxpayer’s percentage of the overall voting or other direct control rights.”
“Larry and Sergey [Google founders] can’t stay in California since the wealth tax as written would confiscate 50% of their Alphabet shares.
Each own ~3% of Alphabet’s stock, worth about $120 billion each at today’s ~$4 trillion market cap.
But because their shares have 10x voting power, the SEIU-UHW California billionaire tax would treat them as owning 30% of Alphabet (3% × 10 = 30%). That means each founder’s taxable wealth would be $1.2 trillion.
A 5% wealth tax on $1.2 trillion = $60 billion tax bill, each.
That’s 50% of their actual Alphabet holdings — wiped out by a ‘5%’ tax.”
Trotsky was right. If you’re gonna do this thing you have to do it everywhere at once. Socialism in one place can’t work because they’ll just go somewhere else. What are they thinking? Eventually you can kill the golden goose.
Taxing controlling interest is dumb. Whoever came up with that idea is ruining socialism for the rest of us.
The argument that capitalism is good and socialism is bad, or vice versa, is also dumb. It ignores the fact that we currently have aspects of both in our society. It also ignores the fundamental reason both systems fail…corruption.
…and another fundamental reason both systems fail, unless the people in them practice hard core thinking in making choices as opposed to embracing a mode of quasi-religious reverence for hopelessly obsolete economic notions, notions that are close to religious superstition.
Rich people are leaving California https://www.washingtonpost.com/technology/2026/01/19/california-wealth-tax-exodus/ “There is not a founder who comes to San Francisco or California to work in the technology industry who does not think they are going to be creating a billion plus dollar company,” he said. “This has spooked a lot of people.”…
David Lesperance, a tax attorney, said that four of his clients, worth $600 billion collectively, have set relocation plans into motion — three to Florida and one to Texas. “Every one of my clients who ran the numbers [after Thanksgiving] came back immediately and said get me the hell out of here,” he said. “This is now a no-brainer.”