Jensen HuangPDG de Nvidia Corp. (NASDAQ:NVDA), urged people to move to California despite the state’s high taxes on Thursday, a stance that contrasts with the recently observed exodus of billionaires from the state.
Huang swims against the tide of billionaires
“I tell everyone: ‘Move to California. Don’t leave. It’s the highest tax system in the world, but it’s still very good,’†Huang said at the Stanford Graduate School of Business alongside the representative. Ro Khanna (Democrat of California).
“The weather is beautiful,†Huang added.
Huang’s comments put him at odds with a growing wave of ultra-high net worth individuals leaving California and signal that the state’s most prominent tech executives are still divided over whether its tax climate poses an existential threat to Silicon Valley’s dominance — a debate that has important implications for innovation, capital formation and the US technology sector as a whole.
The comments from one of the world’s 10 richest people come at a time when several high-profile billionaires, including tech executives, have left California over proposed wealth taxes and other financial considerations.
$100 billion tax battle targeting Silicon Valley billionaires
A proposed ballot measure called the Billionaire Tax Act of 2026 would impose a one-time 5% tax on people with a net worth of more than $1 billion and a one-time tax of $1 billion on people with at least $20 billion in assets as of January 1. This concerns approximately 200 billionaires residing in California.
Its supporters say it could generate about $100 billion to help solve funding problems in the health and education sectors.
Billionaires vote with their feet and their wallets
The co-founder of Google (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL), Sergey Brinhas quietly accumulated a real estate portfolio of $200 million in tax-friendly jurisdictions, while his partner Larry Pageco-founder of Google, reportedly moved several business entities out of California following the wealth tax proposal.
Other tech executives, such as the CEO of Meta Platforms Inc. (NASDAQ:META), Mark Zuckerberghave also taken steps to secure their financial future.
The venture capitalist Vinod Khosla accused Rep. Ro Khanna of advocating a “communist” tax that could drive out a significant portion of California’s wealthiest citizens.
Other notable figures to have criticized the proposed tax include Peter Thielpresident of Palantir (NASDAQ:PLTR), which donated $3 million to a committee opposing the measure, venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya and the hedge fund billionaire Bill Ackmanboth of whom warned that this tax could kill entrepreneurship and stifle innovation in the state.
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