Google co-founder Sergey Brin, a survivor of Soviet-style socialism, is no fan of a proposed billionaire tax in California.
“I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union,” he told the New York Times in a statement. “I don’t want California to end up in the same place.”
Brin used to live in California but already left the state precisely because of a proposed, one-time five-percent tax on billionaires that would apply retroactively to anyone who was a resident of the state at the start of 2026.
“To escape the tax, he moved before a Dec. 31 deadline to the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe,” according to the Times.
Not everybody on the right has welcomed the move:
Bing! Too late. If he’s so attuned to the evils of socialism he should have thought of that when he was slavishly funding far-left causes and having Google censor anyone who dissented from the Democrat party line. All these woke billionaires think we will just forget. They should… https://t.co/9yZzq2I7Gh
— Miranda Devine (@mirandadevine) April 27, 2026
Miranda Devine of the New York Post noted in the tweet above that Brin should have, in the past, thought more carefully before “slavishly funding far-left causes and having Google censor anyone who dissented from the Democrat party line.”
When Brin left California, he reportedly took 15 companies with him.
“In the 10 days before Christmas, an entity connected to Mr. Brin, 52, terminated or moved 15 California limited liability companies that oversee some of his business interests and investments out of the state,” the Times reported.
According to a separate report by Bloomberg, Brin confronted California Gov. Gavin Newsom about the tax during a treehouse party in December.
“In a treehouse nestled in redwoods north of San Francisco, California Governor Gavin Newsom stood cold and hungry as Sergey Brin, the world’s fourth-richest man, and his wellness-influencer girlfriend told him they were leaving the state,” the outlet reported.
“Newsom … was still telling people about the lengthy exchange at the party months later, complaining of a lingering cold the pair had given him,” the reporting continued.
Sergey Brin is one of the greatest examples of the American Dream.
He fled Communist, Russia in 79’ came to America and Founded Google, one of the most influential companies of all time https://t.co/XxymDCofWz pic.twitter.com/b3zPzJEEc7
— Yossi Farro (@FarroYossi) April 28, 2026
In fairness to the governor, he opposes the tax.
“This will be defeated — there’s no question in my mind,” he told the Times in January. “I’ll do what I have to do to protect the state.”
Yet despite his opposition and despite an exodus of billionaires like Brin from California, supporters of a billionaire tax have reportedly already gathered enough signatures to have the proposal placed on the state ballot in November.
“The campaign, which is sponsored by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West labor union, has collected more than 1.5 million signatures,” according to The Guardian. “The measure required 870,000 signatures to qualify for the ballot.”
The signatures have come from leftists like Mayra Castañeda, a healthcare worker.
“Ultra-wealthy billionaires have seen their fortunes skyrocket, even as food, rent, and gas prices increase,” she told The Guardian. “We say that those who have prospered from here in California can afford to invest a little more in keeping California running.”
“Being taxed like every other resident will not hurt the billionaires,” Liz Perlman, a California labor leader, added. “It will not reduce the number of yachts they get to waterski behind, but it will help our hospitals and the workers who have been unfairly punished by Trump’s cruelty.”
The proposal’s lead supporter, the Service Employees International Union, has meanwhile claimed that talk of an exodus is exaggerated.
The tax is a “workable response to a crisis created by Congress”, Suzanne Jimenez, the chief of staff of SEIU-United Healthcare Workers West, reportedly said in a statement.
Jimenez added that the tax would “keep emergency rooms open, hospitals staffed and health care systems functioning.”
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V. Saxena is a staff writer with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University. Saxena also contributes to BizPac Review.
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