A holiday gathering just north of San Francisco became an unexpected financial confrontation for California Governor Gavin Newsom.
In December, Newsom and Google co-founder Sergey Brin both attended a “treehouse party” hosted by crypto investor Chris Larsen. According to a Bloomberg report, Brin used the occasion to inform Newsom he was leaving the state in response to a proposed wealth tax.
The private confrontation proved so uncomfortable that Newsom reportedly complained about a lingering cold he attributed to the interaction for months afterward.
Brin specifically cited the Billionaire Tax Act—a 5% one-time excise tax on individuals with net worth exceeding $1 billion. The tax would significantly impact his nearly $289 billion fortune.
This week, the Service Employees International Union–United Healthcare Workers West announced it has collected more than 1.55 million signatures—nearly double the 875,000 signature requirement—to place the one-time tax on billionaire assets on the California ballot this November.
If voters approve the measure, anyone who was a California resident on January 1, 2026, would owe the tax according to the proposal.
Brin effectively shielded his wealth from the retroactive reach of the proposed tax by purchasing properties in Nevada and Florida. He has committed at least $45 million to a group called “Building A Better California” to fight the initiative, with his total spending to defeat the tax reaching $58 million this year.
“I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place,” Brin told The New York Times this week.
Newsom has publicly opposed the billionaire tax, warning the measure would damage the economy and drive away investment. Since January, it’s estimated that more than $1 trillion in capital has left California.
“This is my fear,” Newsom previously said in a Politico interview. “It’s just what I warned against. It’s happening.”
“The evidence is in. The impacts are very real—not just substantive economic impacts in terms of revenue, but startups, the indirect impacts of people questioning long-term commitments, medium-term commitments,” he continued. “That’s not what we need right now, at a time of so much uncertainty. Quite the contrary.”