California Voters Turn Down Proposed Tax on Billionaires
WHO:
NY Post - California voters rejected Proposition 40.
CBS News - Proposition 40 was supported by the California Democratic Party and labor unions, including its principal sponsor, SEIU Healthcare Workers West.
CBS News - Opponents included California Gov. Gavin Newsom, former Orange County Rep. Katie Porter, the California Medical Association, and the California Teachers Association.
CBS News - Billionaire opponents included Google co-founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, venture capitalist John Doerr, PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel, venture capitalist Vinod Khosla, and Stripe CEO Patrick Collison.
CBS News - Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang supported Proposition 40; he said, “I don't mind paying taxes; the more you make, the more taxes you pay, so I'm okay with that,” and added, “I don't like tax dollars wasted. But I also support all that this country represents.”
CBS News - Economists Daron Acemoglu of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Joseph Stiglitz of Columbia University supported the measure.
NBC News - Progressives who championed the proposal were dealt a blow by its rejection.
WHAT:
TechCrunch - Tech leaders spent roughly 10 times as much as supporters to defeat Proposition 40.
NY Post - Proposition 40, a proposed one-time, first-in-the-nation 5% tax on billionaires, was rejected by 52.8% to 47.2%, according to the Associated Press.
CBS News - CBS News projected that voters rejected the tax. The measure would have applied to California residents with a net worth of $1 billion, excluding real estate and certain retirement assets.
CBS News - Supporters estimated the tax would raise $100 billion over five years: 90% for healthcare programs and 10% for education, food assistance, and tax administration.
CBS News - A Stanford University study estimated the measure might raise about $30 billion, rather than proponents’ $100 billion estimate. It said billionaires who had left California, including Brin, Page, and Thiel, had removed about $540 billion—or 30%—of the state’s billionaire wealth from potential taxation.
CBS News - Building a Better California had raised over $250 million in opposition to the tax. Opponents also funded Propositions 41 and 42, which would limit special taxes and could block Proposition 40 from taking effect if either received more votes.
CBS News - Huang’s estimated net worth was about $200 billion. Economists’ open letter said that from 2019 to 2025, billionaires’ California income tax payments were “only 1.6% of their $1.4 trillion wealth gain.”
NBC News - The rejected ballot measure sought to impose a one-time tax on California billionaires.
WHERE:
CBS News - The proposed tax applied to California residents, and the campaign concerned a California ballot measure.
WHY:
TechCrunch - Founders and economists interviewed by TechCrunch before the vote disagreed over whether the tax would have driven wealthy residents out of California or merely reduced their fortunes.
CBS News - Supporters said the state needed revenue to offset federal healthcare cuts under H.R. 1, the “One Big Beautiful Bill Act,” and protect hospitals, emergency rooms, clinics, and Medi-Cal services.
CBS News - Supporters argued that billionaires can accrue stock-market and business-valuation gains without paying income tax until those gains are realized, and that beneficiaries of California’s economy should contribute more to public services.
CBS News - Newsom and Porter argued the tax could encourage wealthy residents to leave and harm California’s long-term finances. Newsom favored federal-level taxation and said a state tax would be limited to healthcare funding.
HOW:
CBS News - The measure was put to voters as Proposition 40; its outcome was reported as a rejection by the Associated Press and projected by CBS News.
(UPDATED November 10, 2026 13:00 UTC)
California voters rejected Proposition 40, a proposed one-time five-percent tax on billionaires. Tech leaders spent roughly ten times more than supporters opposing the measure. Supporters said proceeds would fund healthcare and education, while opponents warned wealthy residents might leave.
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(UPDATED November 10, 2026 04:07 UTC)
California voters rejected Proposition 40, a proposed tax on billionaires, dealing progressives a setback. The one-time tax would have directed most revenue toward healthcare. Supporters cited funding needs; opponents warned wealthy residents might leave.