A California union has launched an extraordinary bid to introduce a ‘billionaire’s tax’ on the state’s ultra elite.
The first-of-its-kind tax would be a financial blow to the Golden State’s richest residents, targeting Hollywood billionaires and Silicon Valley executives.
There are an estimated 255 billionaires living in California – including the likes of Jay Z and Beyonce, Kim Kardashian, Mark Zuckerberg and Oprah.
The proposal, dreamed up by Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, suggests a one-time five percent tax on any net worth above $1billion.
Assets like stocks, art and even intellectual property rights would be included in the sum.
But in order to get the proposal off the ground, the union would need to secure about 875,000 signatures of support.
‘It would be the first-in-the-world tax like this on the superwealthy,’ Emmanuel Saez, an economics professor at the University of California, Berkeley, told The Wall Street Journal.
For a billionaire with a net worth of $10billion, their one-time tax would be $500million and could generate revenue for the state in excess of $100billion to help fund health care and education initiatives.
Kim Kardashian is reported to be worth $1.7billion, meaning she couyld be expected to stump up an enormous tax bill
Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated net worth is aroun $251 billion, meaning he could get a tax bill as high as $12billion
They would have up to five years to make the full payment.
California is home to plenty of Hollywood A-listers whose estimated net worth is above $1billion.
Kim Kardashian is reported to be worth $1.7billion, while singer and beauty industry mogul Rihanna also is estimated to be worth above $1billion, largely due to her Fenty Beauty line.
Estimates suggest Selena Gomez is worth as much as $1.4billion, while Jay Z and Beyonce’s combined net worth is reportedly above $3.5billion.
Oprah Winfrey also lives in California, and has an estimated net worth of $3.5billion, while Jerry Seinfeld is reportedly worth $1.1billion.
But even the wealthiest stars in Hollywood have their net worth dwarfed by the tech executives who call California home.
Mark Zuckerberg’s estimated net worth is around $251billion, meaning he could get a tax bill of $12billion under the proposal.
Google co-founder Larry Page is worth in excess of $179billion, and fellow co-founder Sergey Brin is worth $166billion.
Silicon Valley entrepreneurs and podcast hosts Chamath Palihapitiya and David Sacks slammed the proposal on their All-In podcast recently, noting it could force even more billionaires out of the state.
Jay Z and Beyonce’s combined net worth is reportedly above $3.5billion
Google co-founder Larry Page is worth in excess of $179billion
Both Elon Musk and Larry Ellison have recently left California, moving their business headquarters to Texas and setting up residences interstate.
Palihapitiya said the union was clearly using the tax as a ‘trial balloon’ to see whether everyday California voters would be open to drawing a ‘clear line’ between themselves and wealthy Californians..
Sacks, meanwhile, said he felt personally targeted by the proposed tax.
Trump appointed Sacks to serve as the White House AI and crypto czar. He said the proposal felt ‘like the Democrats are doing everything they can to get me to leave the state.
‘I don’t want to. I really am resisting,’ he said.
The policy has not been endorsed by California Governor Gavin Newsom. The high-profile Democrat is against the measure, according to a spokesperson.
Campaign strategist Dan Newman warned the tax ‘opens up a can of worms sliding down a slippery slope by taxing cars, houses, wheelbarrows and everything else.’
Other critics noted that tech and AI startups maybe have ‘inflated or overvalued’ valuations which could push their founders into billionaire status under the proposal’s guidelines, despite them not actually having access to that sort of money.
Oprah Winfrey also lives in California, and has an estimated net worth of $3.5billion, while Jerry Seinfeld is reportedly worth $1.1billion
They could then be forced to stump up enormous sums of cash they don’t actually have.
While the tax would be the first of its kind, blue states across the nation have been under increasing pressure from liberals to find ways to tax the rich.
New York City’s new mayor Zohran Mamdani has proposed a two percent tax on all incomes over $1million in an effort to introduce his sweeping socialist policies.
The suggestion would require approval by the state legislature, and has been broadly condemned by wealthy developers and businesses.
