Six of California’s 214 billionaires have been widely reported to have left the state in time to avoid a proposed 5% wealth tax—but that small cohort would have collectively generated $27 billion in tax revenue, roughly a fourth of the initiative’s projected $100 billion haul.
Last November, panic erupted over the announcement of a proposed billionaire’s tax in California. The tax would levy a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of California residents with assets worth at least $1 billion. California’s progressive governor, Gavin Newsom, emerged as the measure’s biggest opponent and vowed to stop the tax to “protect” the state’s tech industry and overall economy.
