{"id":1498,"date":"2026-08-17T16:37:07","date_gmt":"2026-08-17T16:37:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1498"},"modified":"2026-08-17T16:37:07","modified_gmt":"2026-08-17T16:37:07","slug":"billionaire-google-co-founder-spends-102m-to-fund-opposition-to-ca-wealth-tax","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1498","title":{"rendered":"Billionaire Google Co-Founder Spends $102M to Fund Opposition to CA Wealth Tax"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Did you know that Truthout is a nonprofit and independently funded by readers like you? If you value what we do, please support our work with <\/span><\/i>a donation<\/span><\/i>.<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Medicaid Rule Threatens Trans Youth Care. States Can Still Fight Back<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Google co-founder Sergey Brin, one of the richest men in the world, has spent more than $100 million backing a group seeking to stop a popular California ballot initiative that would impose a one-time tax on the wealth of the state\u2019s billionaires.<\/p>\n

New filings reported by The Los Angeles Times <\/em>detail Brin\u2019s role in funding Building a Better California, which is pushing two ballot measures that would undercut and potentially nullify the proposed billionaire wealth tax. Building a Better California is also spending directly against the proposed tax, pumping at least $5 million into \u201cno\u201d efforts.<\/p>\n

If passed, revenue from the 5% billionaire wealth tax would be used to offset federal Medicaid cuts and bolster the state\u2019s education system. The proposal will be on California\u2019s November ballot as Proposition 40, and the two billionaire-backed initiatives are Propositions 41 and 42.<\/p>\n

Debru Carthan, the vice president of Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, said in a statement that \u201cCalifornia billionaire Sergey Brin would rather spend $100 million to fund a shady opposition campaign than simply pay his fair share in taxes so millions of Californians don\u2019t lose their healthcare.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s shameful,\u201d Carthan added. \u201cBillionaires already pay much lower tax rates than what working families pay out of every paycheck.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Trump\u2019s Head Start Overhaul Could Strip Away Key Protections for Kids<\/a><\/p>\n

Proposition 40 has been endorsed by the California Federation of Labor Unions, the California Nurses Association, and the California Democratic Party, as well as prominent progressive lawmakers such as Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.).<\/p>\n

But the measure has drawn opposition from powerful forces in California, including Gov. Gavin Newsom, the California Chamber of Commerce, and the California Teachers Association.<\/p>\n

Brin is not the only billionaire financing efforts to defeat the proposed wealth tax in California, which is home to more billionaires than any other U.S. state. Ripple Labs co-founder Chris Larsen, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and venture capitalist Ron Conway have also spent against the ballot initiative.<\/p>\n

Economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman have estimated that, between 2019 and 2025, California\u2019s billionaires paid on average just 0.26% of their wealth each year in state income taxes.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor the very richest individuals, the effective burden was even lower. The four wealthiest Californians \u2014 Mr. Brin, Mr. Huang, Mr. Page and Mr. Zuckerberg \u2014 paid an average of just 0.07% of their wealth annually in California income tax over that period,\u201d Saez and Zucman wrote. \u201cThis trailblazing wealth tax would be a small (for the ultrawealthy) but important (for everyone else) step toward raising needed tax revenue and curbing the state\u2019s runaway inequality.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more How a Billionaire Is Using His Fortune to Reshape the Democratic Party<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sergey Brin is funding groups opposed to a one-time 5 percent tax that would fund Medicaid and public schools.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1497,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1498","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nBillionaire Google Co-Founder Spends $102M to Fund Opposition to CA Wealth Tax - Smart Moving Home<\/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:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Billionaire Google Co-Founder Spends $102M to Fund Opposition to CA Wealth Tax - Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Sergey Brin is funding groups opposed to a one-time 5 percent tax that would fund Medicaid and public schools.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/smartmovinghome.com\/?p=1498\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Smart Moving Home\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-08-17T16:37:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"admin\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"admin\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ec0d70042821fd684a174c8d0e8becfa\"},\"headline\":\"Billionaire Google Co-Founder Spends $102M to Fund Opposition to CA Wealth Tax\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-08-17T16:37:07+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498\"},\"wordCount\":502,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/2026\\\/08\\\/ed16978a92969301533ac89bd36f3a82.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Interesting\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/smartmovinghome.com\\\/?p=1498\",\"name\":\"Billionaire Google Co-Founder Spends $102M to Fund Opposition to CA Wealth Tax - 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