The exodus from the Golden State continues. The movement gained publicity when Hollywood celebrities, such as Candace Cameron Bure, Andy MacDowell, and Ali Lauter, started fleeing the hustle and bustle of Hollywood for a quieter life. Last year, the president of In-N-Out Burger also made headlines by exiting the state. Now, California’s top 1% of wealthiest people are leaving the state for a different reason – a looming wealth tax that threatens to hit them hard.
MORE: In-N-Out Burger President Leaves California, Expands Christian-Owned Franchise to TN
Larry Page, Google co-founder and the world’s second-richest person, has reportedly left California due to his concerns about a proposed tax law that aims to impose a one-time five percent tax on the assets of California residents worth more than a billion.
According to the Detroit News, Page and his co-founder Sergey Brin quickly transferred the entities they control to other states in late December. And they are not the only ones.
Other tech elites like Oracle founder Larry Ellison, tech investors David Sacks and Peter Thiel have also relocated their businesses to new locations like Miami or Austin.
The proposed wealth tax law is sponsored by the health care union, Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West. Its goal is to offset federal budget cuts to social services, but it is leaving some of the state’s wealthiest upset.
“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,” said Mike Solana, chief marketing officer of billionaire Peter Thiel’s Founders Fund. “This has spooked a lot of people.”
According to the Legislative Analyst’s Office, the tax would be due in 2027, and those who lived in the state on January 1, 2026, would be required to pay it. Payers have the option of spreading their payment out over a five-year period. The financial costs would vary based on assets. For example, a resident with $20 billion in assets would owe a one-time tax of $1 billion, Fox News reports.
Data published by Forbes reveals that Ellison, if he had remained in California, could have been forced to pay around $9.6 billion from his estimated $192 billion net worth. Page would have owed about $7.2 billion based on his estimated $144 billion valuation.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya shared on X that if the bill is approved, there could be no end to this mass exodus.
“California billionaires were reliable taxpayers,” Palihapitiya wrote. “They were the sheep you could shear forever. Now, California will lose this revenue source forever. Unless this ballot initiative is pulled, we will not stop the billionaire exodus. With no rich people left in California, the middle class will have to foot the bill.”
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Andy Fang, the co-founder of DoorDash, posted that the law “could wipe me out,” and that it would be “irresponsible for me not to plan (on) leaving the state.”
University of Missouri law professor David Gamage, the co-author of the tax provision, says it is meant to target only 200 of the state’s billionaires. Everyone else would be safe. He argues that most of the state’s wealthy elites are likely to stay put.
Airbnb founder Brian Chesky says that he plans to keep his business in the Golden State.
NVIDIA CEO Jensen Huang also said in an interview that he has no plans to leave. “We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” Huang said Tuesday. “I’m perfectly fine with it. It never crossed my mind once.”
According to Palihapitiya, California has already lost an estimated $1 trillion from all the billionaires that have left.
The final outcome of the bill will rest in the hands of California voters. The measure requires 875,000 signatures to get on the November ballot and then must win approval.
