Palmer Luckey refuses to flee California over its proposed billionaire tax
California faces a 5% tax on residents with over $1 billion.
The short version
- Tech billionaire Palmer Luckey refuses to flee his home state.
- He says he wants to stay and fight the proposal.
- Other founders have already moved their fortunes to Florida and Texas.
As California’s proposed billionaire tax sends ultra-rich residents packing, 34-year-old tech entrepreneur Palmer Luckey is refusing to run. Proposition 40 proposes a one-time 5% tax on residents with assets over $1 billion, sparking a massive exodus among the state's wealthiest figures. Google, which owns the search engine, cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page moved their business entities to Florida and Nevada, while former Uber, the ride-hailing app, CEO Travis Kalanick relocated to Austin, Texas.
I am staying,” Luckey said during a press conference reported by Fortune. Luckey, who has a net worth of around $5.9 billion, according to Forbes, opposes the bill's sponsor, a union under United Healthcare Workers, and is concerned about illiquid assets being taxed.
Tech billionaires have raised more than $340 million and spent over $1 million daily to defeat Prop 40, according to The Guardian. While his peers pack their bags, Luckey says he believes California is still worth fighting for.
Photo: Xuthoria, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons, AI-edited
