The numbers come first.
An estimated $29 billion in potential tax revenue has walked out of California and Washington State — and the destination is almost always Florida. That figure, calculated by Fortune, reflects the combined wealth-tax exposure of Google cofounders Larry Page (net worth $295 billion) and Sergey Brin (net worth $275 billion), Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick, and PayPal and Palantir cofounder Peter Thiel, all of whom departed before key tax deadlines.
Applying California's proposed 5% one-time wealth levy to Page's fortune alone yields roughly $14 billion in taxes owed. Brin's tab comes to approximately $13 billion. Kalanick's and Thiel's combined exposure adds another $1.8 billion. The arithmetic is unforgiving: California's Billionaire Tax Act was designed to raise $100 billion for healthcare, education and food assistance, but the departure of these four individuals could strip away roughly a quarter of that target before a single ballot is cast.
A bill that may arrive too late
The California Billionaire Tax Act, if passed via a simple majority in November elections, would charge billionaires who resided in the state after Jan. 1, 2026, a one-time 5% levy on total net worth. Page and Brin reportedly rushed to establish Florida residency and purchase property there ahead of that January 1 deadline. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found voters split — 48% in support, 41% opposed — suggesting the measure is far from certain even on paper.
Brin has not been passive. He has reportedly donated $102 million total to Building a Better California, a PAC promoting three counter-measures that could neutralize the billionaire tax even if it passes. Thiel donated $3 million to the California Business Roundtable, another group opposing the levy.
Washington State adds fuel
California is not the only state accelerating the exodus. Washington Gov. Bob Ferguson signed a 9.9% income tax on earnings above $1 million in March — a measure projected to raise $3 billion to $4 billion per year. Both Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz had already left Seattle before the bill became law. Both have since purchased property in Florida.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg also bought Florida property earlier this year. Oracle cofounder Larry Ellison and Citadel founder Ken Griffin — who relocated his firm from Chicago to Miami in June 2022, citing crime and politics — round out a roster of capital that has decisively voted with its feet.
Florida's value proposition
Florida offers no state income tax and no capital gains tax. Miami has actively marketed itself as a business-friendly alternative to high-tax coastal cities. In 2025, ultra-luxury home sales in Miami set a record, with 361 homes sold at $10 million or higher, according to the New York Times.
CEO Times read
The West Coast's experiment in punitive wealth taxation is producing a textbook lesson in capital mobility: when the cost of residency becomes confiscatory, the most mobile taxpayers simply leave, and the revenue projections collapse with them. Sacramento and Olympia designed these taxes to fund government programs; instead, they have funded Florida real estate and reinforced Miami's standing as the new capital of American free enterprise.
The deeper principle is not complicated. Capital rewards clear rules and punishes arbitrary extraction. Every billionaire who relocates takes not just a tax bill but an ecosystem of investment, philanthropy and job creation. The $29 billion shortfall is not a rounding error — it is the market's verdict on confiscatory policy, delivered before the law even takes effect.
