POLITICS: Tech titans unite

Tech titans have mobilized against California’s proposed 5% billionaire tax —- and no wonder, as the tax could strip some of the state’s richest inventors of controlling interests in the companies they founded.

The moguls’ effort, dubbed Building a Better California, points anew to state government’s failure to prioritize the public good over gluttonous special interests.

It also affirms the need for Gov. Gavin Newsom and state legislators — and their voracious public union allies — to stop chasing wealth, jobs and people from the once-Golden State.

Already, the proposed billionaire tax, led by SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, has caused a wealth and talent drain as Larry Page, Peter Thiel and other billionaires have fled for greener tax pastures.

They and others have said they can’t risk voters in November supporting the onerous billionaire tax proposal — in effect exporting an estimated $1 trillion in wealth from California. 

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The result: Jobs, ingenuity, leadership, innovation, billions in tax receipts and more, lost to the likes of Florida.

The state budget alone could lose billions from the exodus — at a time when the state Legislative Analyst’s Office forecasts an $18 billion general fund deficit in fiscal year 2026-27.

Holding the bag will be middle-class taxpayers. 

In other words, the wealth tax has made a hot mess, before it’s even qualified for the ballot.

So the efforts of Building a Better California, to the extent they can curb such lunacy, are welcome.

The group of moguls, led by Google co-founder Sergey Brin and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt, reportedly plan to support various political candidates and ballot initiatives, as well as lobby against the wealth tax.

So far, the titans have earmarked $35 million for their cause — with much more likely to come.

After all, the fine print of the tax plan suggests that tech founders’ voting shares in companies could face the 5% levy, which might force them to sell those shares to pay the tax — effectively forfeiting controlling interests in the very enterprises they created.

That’s insane.

Newsom, legislators, the SEIU and other special-interest spendthrifts should take a cue from the moguls and acknowledge the obvious:

Plundering the wealthy — and after them, whoever’s left — is not the path to a prosperous California.