The numbers come first: California's wealthiest residents are writing very large checks to stop a ballot measure that would cost them 5% of their net worth in a single year.
Building a Better California, the PAC formed to oppose Proposition 40, reported an endowment of $110 million as of late June, according to campaign finance filings reviewed by the Financial Times. The group has also reserved $87 million in advertising time ahead of the November election, the New York Times reported last month.
New money, familiar names
The latest contributions arrived in an August 14 campaign finance filing. Venture capitalist John Doerr put in $7.5 million. Chris Larsen, executive chair of blockchain company Ripple, added another $10 million. Doerr is worth approximately $22.6 billion, according to Forbes; Larsen is valued at $11.4 billion.
Smaller but still significant checks came from John Hering, co-founder of cybersecurity company Lookout ($946,000), and Greenoaks Capital founder Neil Mehta ($250,000).
Among the most committed opponents is Google co-founder Sergey Brin, described by the source as the world's fourth richest man. Brin moved many of his assets out of California late last year and has put $102 million toward opposing the California wealth tax, including an additional $20 million contribution to Building a Better California made earlier this month.
What Proposition 40 would do
Proposition 40 would impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents holding more than $1 billion in assets, with proceeds directed toward healthcare funding. Building a Better California has backed two companion measures — Proposition 41 and Proposition 42 — that would cancel out the billionaire tax if either receives more votes than Proposition 40, even if Proposition 40 also passes. Proposition 41 would require the state auditor to review any special tax proposal before it reaches voters; Proposition 42 would ban new taxes based on mere ownership of assets.
Fewer than a third of California voters were aware the two companion measures existed, according to a UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies survey of more than 4,000 registered voters.
A close race
That same poll found 48% of likely voters support the billionaire tax and 41% oppose it. Registered Democrats overwhelmingly back the measure, but only 50% of unaffiliated voters said the same, while 80% of Republicans said they would not support it. 'These results suggest that the Billionaires Tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest,' said Eric Schickler, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies.
Gov. Gavin Newsom and the democratic candidate for governor, Xavier Becerra, have both come out against the billionaire tax. The California Democratic Party, however, endorsed the proposal earlier this month — a setback for wealthy opponents. Sen. Bernie Sanders has pushed for its passage, arguing in February that the tax would demonstrate accountability to ordinary Americans. Former Shark Tank star Mark Cuban warned on X that the measure would drive entrepreneurs out of the state: 'IMO, if this passes, only idiot startup founders stay in Cali,' Cuban wrote.
CEO Times editorial read
California is running a live experiment in what happens when a state treats capital as a captive resource. Sergey Brin already moved assets across state lines. The $87 million in reserved advertising time is not charity — it is the market pricing the cost of a policy that taxes wealth before it is realized, earned or sold. When the most productive residents of the largest state economy begin voting with their balance sheets, the revenue projections behind Proposition 40 deserve serious scrutiny.
Free enterprise does not require sympathy for billionaires. It requires honest accounting: a one-time tax that triggers permanent relocation is not a one-time tax. The taxpayer left behind pays the difference.
