{"id":5482,"date":"2026-08-18T10:40:23","date_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:40:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5482"},"modified":"2026-08-18T10:40:23","modified_gmt":"2026-08-18T10:40:23","slug":"californias-billionaires-just-poured-40-million-into-blocking-a-wealth-tax-that-threatens-to-force-them-to-pay-5-of-their-net-worth","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5482","title":{"rendered":"California\u2019s billionaires just poured $40 million into blocking a wealth tax that threatens to force them to pay 5% of their net worth"},"content":{"rendered":"
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A pair of billionaires, along with other wealthy individuals, have recently upped their contributions to Building a Better California, a PAC formed earlier this year to oppose Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California residents with more than $1 billion in assets to increase healthcare funding in the state.<\/p>\n

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Venture capitalist John Doerr put in $7.5 million to the group, while the executive chair of blockchain company Ripple, Chris Larsen, contributed an extra $10 million to the group, according to a campaign finance filing from August 14, the Financial Times<\/em> reported. Doerr is worth about $22.6 billion according to Forbes, <\/em>while Larsen is worth $11.4 billion.<\/p>\n

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Some multimillionaires also contributed, including the co-founder of cybersecurity company Lookout, John Hering, and Greenoaks Capital founder Neil Mehta, who contributed $946,000 and $250,000, respectively.<\/p>\n

The newest contributions come as Building a Better California boasts an endowment of $110 million as of late June\u2014a sign that wealthy Californians are taking seriously the threat the one-time tax represents for their finances if approved by voters in November.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Still, a recent poll by UC Berkeley\u2019s Institute of Governmental Studies shows voters are split on whether to approve the billionaire tax. The survey of more than 4,000 registered voters found that 48% of likely voters support the measure, while 41% oppose it. Though registered Democrats overwhelmingly said they would back the proposed tax, only 50% of unaffiliated voters said the same, while 80% of Republicans said they would not support the proposal.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese results suggest that the Billionaires Tax initiative is shaping up to be a closely fought contest, with the key question being whether opponents can make big enough inroads among the state\u2019s traditionally Democratic-leaning voters,\u201d said Eric Schickler, co-director of the Institute of Governmental Studies, in a press release.<\/p>\n

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Two fighting propositions<\/h2>\n

Building a Better California isn\u2019t taking any chances. The group has backed two of its own initiatives, Proposition 41 and Proposition 42, which would cancel out the billionaire tax if either receives more votes than the billionaires tax, even if the billionaire tax is also approved.<\/p>\n

Proposition 41 would require the state auditor to review any special tax proposal before it is presented to voters, while Proposition 42 would ban new taxes based on mere ownership of assets like property, which are usually only taxed when sold.<\/p>\n

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It\u2019s unclear if either Proposition 41 or 42 has more of a chance at passing than the billionaire tax. The survey by the Institute of Governmental Studies found that while 72% of voters had heard of the billionaire tax, fewer than a third of the state\u2019s voters were aware the two counter-intitiatives existed.<\/p>\n

Read more AWS\u2019s Asia chief is relocating to Japan as the country scrambles to modernize its legacy IT systems<\/a><\/p>\n

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Building a Better California has also allocated a large chunk of its massive war chest to reserve $87 million worth of advertising time ahead of the November election to sway public opinion, the New York Times <\/em>reported last month.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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While some important state politicians, including Gov. Gavin Newsom and the democratic candidate for governor, Xavier Becerra, have come out against the billionaire tax, earlier this month, the California Democratic Party endorsed the proposal, dealing a blow to billionaire opponents of the bill.<\/p>\n

Among the billionaires who oppose the bill, Google cofounder Sergey Brin is among the most adamant. The world\u2019s fourth richest man moved many of his assets out of California late last year and has already put $102 million toward opposing the California wealth tax after an additional $20 million contribution he made to Building a Better California earlier this month.<\/p>\n

Other billionaires, including former Shark Tank <\/em>star Mark Cuban have also come out against the billionaire tax. In an exchange on X over the weekend, Cuban warned California congressman Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) that the tax would hurt entrepreneurs and innovation in the state.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cIMO, if this passes, only idiot startup founders stay in Cali,\u201d Cuban wrote in a post.<\/p>\n

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Still, prominent politicians like Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont have pushed for the billionaire tax to pass. Sanders said in February that the billionaire tax would help show the wealthiest Americans \u201cwe are still living in a democratic society where the people have some power.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sen. Sanders with Rep. Khanna also introduced legislation in March that would take a version of California\u2019s billionaire tax to the national level.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Their bill, the \u201cMake Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act,\u201d would establish a 5% wealth tax on America\u2019s 938 billionaires to expand Medicare, reverse cuts to Medicaid made by President Trump\u2019s Big Beautiful Bill, and provide a $3,000 direct payment to every man, woman, and child in households making $150,000 or less.\u00a0<\/p>\n

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Billionaires have amassed a nine-figure war chest to defeat Proposition 40 as polls show California voters are nearly split on the one-time tax.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":5481,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5482","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-american-politics"],"yoast_head":"\nCalifornia\u2019s billionaires just poured $40 million into blocking a wealth tax that threatens to force them to pay 5% of their net worth - Cross Country Moving Team<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/crosscountrymovingteams.com\/?p=5482\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"California\u2019s billionaires just poured $40 million into blocking a wealth tax that threatens to force them to pay 5% of their net worth - 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