American billionaire Sergey Brin's $100 million fight helps sink California wealth tax

American billionaire Sergey Brin, the Google co-founder, spent more than $100 million to defeat California's proposed tax on billionaires, a measure voters have now rejected.

The Associated Press called the race on Proposition 40, which would have imposed a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of state residents with more than $1 billion in assets. "No" votes led from the first returns on election night, Nov. 3, and held a lead of several percentage points as counting continued over the following week.

Brin was the largest single donor against the measure. Eric Schmidt, Google's former chief executive, gave about $48 million. In total, opponents spent about $425 million. San Francisco billionaire Chris Larsen, a co-founder of Ripple, contributed $12.5 million.

What voters turned down

Proposition 40 would have amended the state constitution to tax billionaires who lived in California on Jan. 1, 2026, with their wealth assessed at the end of the year. They could have paid in a lump sum or over five years. Real estate and some retirement accounts were excluded.

The measure was sponsored by SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, a health-care workers' union, and backed by Sen. Bernie Sanders and Rep. Ro Khanna, who called it "the most important ballot initiative in America." Supporters said it would raise about $100 billion over five years to offset federal cuts to health care and food assistance. The state's nonpartisan Legislative Analyst's Office put the likely revenue at tens of billions of dollars.

Gov. Gavin Newsom opposed the tax, arguing it would drive wealthy residents and their businesses out of the state. Union leaders have said they will try again if the Legislature fails to find another way to pay for health care.

The proposal pushed several of the state's richest residents to act before the vote. Brin and fellow Google co-founder Larry Page moved companies, money and residences out of California this year, as did investor Peter Thiel. Los Angeles developer Rick Caruso said he came close to moving to Texas or Florida.

Brin's fortune

Brin, 53, co-founded Google with Page in 1998 while both were doctoral students at Stanford University. He served as president of Google's parent, Alphabet Inc., until 2019 and remains a board member and one of its largest individual shareholders. His stake makes him one of the 10 richest people in the world.

Schmidt, 71, ran Google from 2001 to 2011 and later served as executive chairman of Alphabet. He now invests in technology and defense startups and funds scientific research through his philanthropy.