You can't talk about the socialist agenda being implemented in places like California and New York without hearing the words of the "Iron Lady," Margaret Thatcher herself: "The problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money." California has endured one-party rule for years, and that party is lurching mightily toward socialism and not trying to hide it. But a group that would be California progressives' prime target may now be regretting their blue votes in November. They are seeing the writing on the wall and are thinking it might be time to get out.
Billionaires and other rich individuals, reported to have a combined net worth of $500B, per Chamath Palihapitiya, are leaving California to avoid the state’s punitive wealth tax.
— AF Post (@AFpost) January 1, 2026
David Sacks and Peter Thiel have already relocated their business operations.
Follow: @AFpost pic.twitter.com/5XFT9tvdOm
That group is several California-based Democrat billionaires, and the problem is a potential "billionaire tax" that is being pushed by progressives. "The 2026 Billionaire Tax Act" was first talked about in October of 2025, after the ballot initiative was filed with the California Attorney General's Office by the Service Employees International Union - United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW). The initiative allegedly proposes a one-time five percent wealth tax on California billionaires. The revenue would presumably go to fund healthcare, including illegal immigrants on Medi-Cal.
READ MORE: From Golden to Broke: Billionaires Ditch Newsom's California, Take $1 Trillion With Them
PirateWires' Mike Solana spoke with 21 billionaires. Most of whom are planning on leaving the state. The breadth of work experience among this group is impressive, and ranges from artificial intelligence, defense, cryptography, security, biotechnology, finance, general software development, and venture capital. The combined worth of the companies the group owns is around $1.3 trillion, and they employ roughly 50,000 people.
One of the venture capitalists of the group told Solana bluntly:
“If this tax actually passes, I think the technology industry kind of has to leave the state. Because every person running a company will have to look at the math, and they will think, ‘Well obviously that cannot happen because it will literally destroy the company.'”
Another in the group had this to say about the proposed bill:
“If it does or doesn’t pass, this is the single most radicalizing red pilling thing to ever happen to push them into the arms of the Republican Party, and I think it makes clear, more than anything else that happens, that it’s not about helping the poor but impoverishing the rich, and the pain is part of the point. That’s a new realization for a lot of people.”
California is floating a billionaire tax while its budget has exploded since 2019.
— TaxBuzz.com (@taxbuzzonline) January 22, 2026
Capital is mobile. Debt isn’t.
When the tax base leaves, who’s next?
Millionaires? Doctors? Homeowners? Retirees?
This is how fiscal cliffs form.
But the best part of California Democrats' seemingly full-on embrace of socialism is the fact that many of these billionaires are some of the Democrat Party's biggest donors. There has already been plenty of discussion about where they might relocate should the initiative pass. Places like Florida and Texas could be the beneficiaries of California's choice to place more value on taxing the rich than keeping revenue and jobs in the state.
Supporters of the initiative insist this would be a one-time tax, but those who have become the wealthiest people in the state through their own innovation and hard work know this could not be further from the truth. One billionaire, seeing the state money grab for what it is, said:
“I think 100 percent of people who are looking at this understand it is being marketed as a one-time thing, but it will not be one time, and it will not only target billionaires. Once the structure is put in place, it is going to expand."
But in all honesty, as Democrats jump on the "demonize the rich" bandwagon, what did these guys think was going to happen? The party they have supported, both ideologically and financially, has put their hypocrisy on full display and is badmouthing them to their far-left base, and expecting a check at the same time. And those who support the measure will have the nerve to be surprised when the people with the deep pockets that fund their campaigns, pack up and head for redder, less taxing pastures.
They will eventually apply the “wealth tax” to everyone, just like the income tax, which was supposed to be just a temporary tax of a few percent of the top 1% to pay for WW1 … https://t.co/DEu4NLqxLS
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) January 16, 2026
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