Brin and Tech Leaders Outspend California Voters by 10 to 1 in Prop 40 Fight

The campaign to defeat California's proposed one-time billionaire asset tax has become the most expensive ballot measure fight in state history.

Sergey Brin, Tony Xu, Patrick Collison, Chris Larsen, John Doerr, Michael Moritz, and Vinod Khosla have donated more than $300 million to block Prop 40. Supporters of the measure have raised only $32 million, creating a 10-to-1 spending disparity. David McCuan, a political science professor at Sonoma State University, tracked the records and identified the campaign's historical scale.

The tax would impose a 5 percent levy on the assets of California billionaires. Voters will cast ballots on November 3. The state party endorses the measure, but Governor Gavin Newsom opposes it, calling the language poorly written and warning that it could drive the estimated $2.3 trillion in billionaire wealth out of the state. Xavier Becerra and Katie Porter, both running for governor, also oppose the tax.

Mark Zuckerberg did not donate to the opposition. Meta's SEC filings show he told the board, which includes Xu and Collison, that he would move his home outside the state to avoid the tax. The board created a new class of shares for him to use for payment, a move intended to prevent his relocation from affecting the company's stock price.

Confusion among voters has grown due to heavy advertising and mailers. Brian Galle, an economics professor at UC Berkeley who helped write the proposal, said a flyer he received claimed the tax could apply to retirement savings, a provision he stated was not in his text. Ashley Craig, a volunteer for Patriotic Millionaires, reports that voters frequently hear the measure contains secret provisions to tax everyone. Any change to the tax requires a two-thirds majority in the assembly.

The dispute also involves two other ballot measures. One bars new state taxes on personal property or retroactive taxes. The other requires state auditors to review proposed tax measures for financial impact before a vote. If either measure passes with more votes than the billionaire tax, it could negate the tax even if voters approve Prop 40.

A Public Policy Institute of California poll found voters narrowly support the tax but also back the two measures aimed at stopping it. Mark Baldassare, the institute's survey director, noted that only about a third of citizen initiatives pass, placing the burden of proof on the yes side. Suzane Jiminez, chief of staff at the SEIU health workers union, said 3,000 volunteers are knocking on doors and that Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Ro Khanna have rallied support across the state.