Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated $20 million more to defeat Proposition 40, a wealth tax that would cost him $13.3 billion. The November ballot measure pits billionaires against unions.
Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated another $20 million to Building a Better California, bringing his total contributions to the group to $102 million.
The committee is leading the campaign against Proposition 40, a November ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on California's roughly 200 billionaires. Supporters say 90% of the revenue would go to the state's health care program, with the rest funding education, food assistance, and administration.
For Brin, the stakes are high. If the measure passes, he would owe an estimated $13.3 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which values his net worth at about $282 billion. Spending $102 million to block the tax offers a potential return of roughly 130-to-1.
Brin has been direct about his opposition. "I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don't want California to end up in the same place," he told the New York Times in April.
Building a Better California is funding two rival ballot measures designed to cancel the billionaire tax if they win more votes. The group supporting the tax, launched by a healthcare workers' union, has raised just over $30 million so far.
Brin, the world's fourth-richest person, has brought other tech billionaires into the fight. Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel have both donated to groups opposing the measure.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has also come out against the tax, arguing it would erode the state's tax base. "The fact is it actually will reduce investments in education," Newsom told Bloomberg Businessweek earlier this year. "It will reduce investments in teachers and librarians, and childcare. It will reduce investments in firefighting and police."
Proposition 40 has sparked a spending arms race between the state's wealthiest residents and labor unions. The outcome will be decided at the polls in November.
Drafted by a large language model from the source reporting linked above, then screened by automated publishing checks. It is not read by a journalist before publication. Some articles cite our Alpha Score. Verify prices and figures against the original source. Educational coverage, not personalized advice.