California's Billionaire Tax Heads to a Vote, and Some Tech Fortunes Have Already Moved

A one-time 5% levy, a November vote

Californians go to the polls on Nov. 3 to decide Initiative Number 25-0024, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on the state’s billionaires. The tax has not been collected yet, but people are already moving. Research from the Hoover Institution says nearly 30% of the billionaires covered by the proposal have left California.

What leaving looks like in practice

The most visible name is Google co-founder Larry Page. He bought two waterfront homes in Miami’s Coconut Grove for a combined $173 million. His family office, Koop, moved too: it is now registered in Delaware with an office address in Florida.

Co-founder Sergey Brin followed a similar path. He bought a $51 million waterfront house on Allison Island in Miami and registered Nevada as his official residence. He has also funded Building a Better California, a political action committee opposing the tax.

Peter Thiel moved his family investment firm from California to Miami in December 2025.

The pattern is consistent. None of these moves requires selling California property or cutting ties with the state. What changes is the tax-relevant address: where someone is a resident, and where a company is registered. The real estate stays put; the taxpayer does not. Against a one-time wealth tax, the cost of changing an address is not in the same range as the bill itself.

The one who says he will pay

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang is among the few billionaires who have said publicly that they will pay. He expects a bill of about $8 billion. That figure also hints at how the math shifts for everyone else: if the tax takes effect and fewer targets remain in state, the remaining residents carry a larger share.

The vote is pending; the map is not

The referendum is set for Nov. 3, but changes of residence and corporate registration do not wait for the result. How much the state ultimately collects, and from whom, depends on how many more people move their official addresses in the months before the vote. Those who leave do not necessarily take their businesses with them; they simply stop counting as California residents.

Supporters have to argue the tax is worth paying. Opponents only have to show that leaving is cheaper. Judging by the transactions and filings already on the record, the second argument is easier to make. The outcome will be known on Nov. 3. The address changes are already documented.