The initiative has until June 24, 2026, to gather 874,641 signatures to qualify for the November midterm election ballot.
A number of CEOs and founders of major tech companies across California are opposed to a ballot initiative proposing a one-time tax on billionaires.
The California “Billionaire Tax Act” is a ballot initiative that seeks to impose a 5 percent personal wealth tax on residents who have a net worth of over $1 billion in certain types of assets and live in the state as of Jan. 1, 2026. Revenue generated from the tax is intended to fund health care, food assistance, and education programs, according to the initiative’s text.
The proposal states that the “billionaire tax” can be paid in full along with any income tax owed for the 2026 tax year, or the taxpayer can split the tax into “five equal installments,” which would see an annual 7.5 percent deferral charge on the unpaid balance.
The initiative has until June 24, 2026, to gather 874,641 signatures to qualify for the November midterm election ballot.
Many California tech leaders have signaled their opposition to the initiative, with some taking steps to move business operations out of the state.
LinkedIn co-founder Reid Hoffman on Jan. 7 called the idea “badly designed in so many ways,” saying that taxing illiquid stock would be a “horrendous idea.”
“Poorly designed taxes incentivize avoidance, capital flight, and distortions that ultimately raise less revenue,” Hoffman added.
Venture capitalist David Sacks said late last year: “Why does California need a wealth tax? To fund the massive fraud. Red states like Texas and Florida don’t even have income taxes.”
Just three days later, Sacks announced his company, Craft Ventures, had opened a Texas office.
Sacks also previously floated the idea of leaving California in an October 2025 episode of the All-In Podcast—which he hosts alongside tech investors Chamath Palihapitiya, Jason Calacanis, and David Friedberg.
“I don’t want to [leave the state]. I really am resisting. I mean, they’ve raised my income tax to 13.3 percent,” Sacks said. “They’ve been boiling the frog. I still haven’t jumped out of the pot. But for me, I think the wealth tax, I’m going to have to jump out of the pot with this.”
In the same episode, Social Capital CEO Palihapitiya said: “They obviously got somebody very clever to draft it, because any Roth IRA over $10 million counts. And normally in these wealth calculations, you keep your deferred retirement accounts off the table. They’re typically not included.”
By Cynthia Cai
