Sergey Brin Donated Tens of millions Forward of California’s Wealth Tax Vote

Google cofounder Sergey Brin is among the many California-based billionaires pouring hundreds of thousands into donations forward of the state’s proposed wealth tax.

Brin, together with different tech executives, enterprise capitalists, and philanthropists, donated a mixed $35 million to poll measure committees in January, supporting inexpensive housing ballots in California, per a disclosure seen by Enterprise Insider.

The disclosure was filed by the coalition “Constructing a Higher California.”

Brin was the most important contributor within the submitting, donating $20 million. Others donated giant sums on numerous days in January, like former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and PayPal CEO Max Levchin, who donated $2 million and $1 million, respectively.

Others within the record embrace DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, and Kleiner Perkins Chairman John Doerr.

Brin’s multimillion-dollar donation comes forward of California’s vote on a measure that may levy a one-time, 5% tax on billionaires within the state. The tax, due in 2027, could be imposed retroactively from January 1 this yr.

Teams just like the one Brin donated to are a part of a concerted push by billionaires to negate the necessity for the wealth tax, both by funding various packages or by funneling cash into political motion committees against the measure.

Reactions to the potential tax have been combined. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang stated he is “completely superb” with it, saying this month that Silicon Valley’s expertise pool was price any taxes.

Nevertheless, different executives have taken a extra defensive stance. Brin and Google’s different cofounder, Larry Web page, moved an LLC they’re each tied to from California to Delaware in December.

LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman stated the tax could be “horrendous” for innovation. White Home AI czar David Sacks stated the tax, if enacted, could be akin to an “asset seizure.”

The New York Instances reported that Palantir’s chairman, Peter Thiel, donated $3 million to the California Enterprise Roundtable in December, which has straight opposed the wealth tax.

Representatives for the executives didn’t reply to requests for remark from Enterprise Insider.