California Billionaires Spend Record $612 Million to Oppose Wealth Tax

More than 70 current and former billionaires in California have contributed a record $612 million to state elections, the largest political mobilization by the state's wealthiest residents in history. Nearly half of these funds are dedicated to opposing Proposition 40, a wealth tax initiative appearing on Tuesday's ballot.

Sergey Brin, a co-founder of Google, serves as the largest financial backer of the campaign to defeat the measure. He is joined by other prominent Silicon Valley executives and investors, including former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, venture capitalist John Doerr, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, and cryptocurrency executive Chris Larsen.

These donors argue that the proposed tax threatens the state's business climate. This coordinated effort signals growing resistance among wealthy entrepreneurs to California's tax policies and has established new donor networks for future political activity.