Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 5
Sergey Brin Gives $16 Million to Fight California's 5% Wealth Tax
Updated
Updated · Business Insider · Jul 5

Sergey Brin Gives $16 Million to Fight California's 5% Wealth Tax

3 articles · Updated · Business Insider · Jul 5

Summary

  • $16 million from Sergey Brin on May 15 added to the biggest funding stream against California’s November ballot measure for a one-time 5% tax on residents and trusts holding more than $1 billion in assets.
  • Brin has now given $82 million to Building a Better California, making the Google cofounder the largest backer of the opposition after earlier moving assets out of the state before a key January deadline.
  • More than $120 million has flowed from tech billionaires and millionaires into committees seeking to defeat or complicate the measure, far outpacing the roughly $31 million raised by primary supporter SEIU-UHW.
  • Other major donors include John Doerr at $10 million, Michael Moritz at $7.5 million, Patrick Collison at $7 million and Chris Larsen through multiple groups, underscoring broad Silicon Valley resistance as the tax heads to voters.

Insights

Could California's wealth tax plan ultimately cost the state billions more than it collects?
Can California legally tax the global wealth of billionaires years after they have left the state?