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California gubernatorial candidate Steve Hilton attacks the state’s “billionaire tax” ballot initiative and demands it become a “corporate driver” again on “The Bottom Line.”
Silicon Valley’s richest residents once again threaten to leave Californiathis time about a proposed state wealth tax that tech founders say could fundamentally reshape where innovation — and capital — dwell.
The proposal, supported by the Service Employees International Union – United Healthcare Workers West, would impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents’ assets worth more than $1 billion.
Supporters say the revenue could help offset cuts in federal health care funding.
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Palmer Luckey, founder of Anduril Industries, spoke out against the proposed X ballot measure. (Kyle Grillot/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
Although the measure remains under consideration for the November statewide ballot, some of Silicon Valley’s most prominent figures warn it could trigger an exodus of founders and capital.
Palmer Luckey, co-founder of defense technology startup Anduril, said the tax would force “founders like me to sell huge shares of our companies” to pay for what he described as “fraud, waste and political favors for the organizations pushing this ballot initiative.”
“I made my money with my first company, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes, used the rest to start a second company that employs six thousand people and now my co-founders and I have to somehow come up with billions of dollars in cash,” Luckey wrote on X.
Luckey’s comments come as billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page weigh whether to cut ties with “The Golden State” over the proposed ballot measure, according to a New York Times report. report.
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Peter Thiel, co-founder and chairman of Palantir, is worth about $27.5 billion and could owe more than $1.2 billion if the measure becomes law in California. (Kiyoshi Ota/Bloomberg/Getty Images / Getty Images)
If the measure makes it onto the November ballot and is approved by voters, it would apply retroactively to anyone residing in California as of January 1, 2026.
Concretely, a resident with $20 billion in assets on that date would be liable for a single tax of $1 billion, payable over five years.
Billionaire investor Bill Ackman echoed those concerns, calling California “on the path to self-destruction” if the measure moves forward.
“Hollywood is already toast and now the most productive entrepreneurs will leave, taking their tax revenue and job creation elsewhere,” the Pershing Square chief wrote on X.
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California Governor Gavin Newsom has previously said he is against the proposed billionaires tax. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images/Getty Images)
Earlier this month, California Gov. Gavin Newsom declared himself opposed to the proposed tax on billionaires, while warning against panic caused by this measure.
“It’s nothing to panic about, but it’s part of a broader concern and narrative that has developed in this country of haves and have-nots, not just income inequality, but wealth inequality,” Newsom told an audience at the New York Times DealBook conference.
