Tech’s biggest names sunk a tax on billionaires’ wealth with $425m and a familiar playbook
Summary
California voters rejected Proposition 40, a proposed one-time 5% tax on billionaires, while approving Proposition 42, which would ban taxes on billionaire wealth. Technology executives and other wealthy donors spent nearly $425 million opposing the tax measure, far more than supporters raised.Key Facts
- Sergey Brin contributed at least $132 million to the campaign against Proposition 40, the largest donation reported.
- Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt gave more than $48 million to oppose the measure.
- Donors from companies including Palantir, DoorDash, Stripe and Reddit, along with venture capitalists, helped raise nearly $425 million against the tax.
- The pro-tax campaign, sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, raised just over $31 million.
- Proposition 40 proposed a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in California, with supporters saying the revenue would help address healthcare funding losses linked to President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.
- Opponents used ads and mailers warning that the tax could harm ordinary residents and worsen healthcare funding.
- Governor Gavin Newsom and governor-elect Xavier Becerra opposed the tax measure.
- A business professor cited similarities between the campaign and ride-hailing companies’ 2020 effort to defeat a labor-rights ballot measure.
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