People walk on a street in downtown Sioux Falls, S.D. (Emily Spartz Weerheim / For The Times) California cryptocurrency startup BitGo has moved to South Dakota ahead of its initial public offering and amid a heated debate about a proposed ballot measure to tax billionaires. Read more: Explaining California's billionaire tax: The proposals, the backlash and the exodus The company that had been based in Palo Alto is now based in Sioux Falls, S.D., according to a December filing to the U.S. Securities and E ...

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang might be worth $156 billion, but he barely bat an eyelid at a proposed tax on billionaires which critics fear could push talent out of California. The proposed bill would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the state’s billionaires, estimated to be some 200 individuals. Even if the indivdual barely makes the billion-dollar threshold, the tax would still demand a $50,000,000 payment. At Huang’s net worth, he would be facing an eye-watering payment of almost $8 billion.The tech titan seemed r ...

Group 1: California Billionaire Tax - A proposed "billionaire tax" in California would impose a one-time, 5% tax on assets of individuals with net worths above $1 billion as of New Year's Day [1] - The tax would apply to various assets including stocks, artwork, and intellectual property rights, rather than income, with a five-year payment period for billionaires [1] Group 2: Insider Selling by Tech Executives - Mega-cap technology companies significantly contributed to U.S. stock market gains in 2025, with executives engaging in substantial insider selling totaling over $16 billion [2] - Jeff Bezos led the sales by selling 25 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. for $5.7 billion, while other executives like Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks Inc. sold nearly $1 billion in stock [2] - Most top sellers utilized prearranged 10b5-1 trading plans for their transactions [2] Group 3: OpenAI's Compensation Strategy - OpenAI is providing unprecedented stock-based compensation to its employees, averaging about $1.5 million per person across its workforce of roughly 4,000 employees [3] - This compensation level is over seven times larger than what Google offered before its 2004 IPO and approximately 34 times the typical pre-IPO compensation at 18 other major tech firms, adjusted for inflation [3] - The generous equity packages reflect the intense competition for elite AI talent in the industry [3]

Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) has stood firm in his support for a billionaire tax, despite threats from some of the state’s wealthiest residents to leave if the tax is implemented.Khanna Defends Billionaire TaxKhanna took to X to defend his stance on the billionaire tax, which would tax California residents whose net worth exceeds $1 billion at up to 5% of their assets. Those with at least $20 billion in assets as of Jan. 1, 2026, would face a one-time tax of $1 billion.He noted that within a 50-mile radius, hi ...

Core Argument - The only way to eliminate billionaires would be to destroy the stock market, which would negatively impact the savings of ordinary Americans [1][2]. Group 1: Wealth Inequality and Stock Market - Mark Cuban asserts that extreme wealth is an inevitable outcome of the market system, stating that billionaires will exist as long as stock markets do [2][6]. - Cuban acknowledges that approximately 90% of the stock market is owned by the richest 10% of U.S. households, aligning with Federal Reserve data indicating that this group holds about 93% of all stock market wealth [3][4]. - He argues that forcing the top 10% to sell their stock holdings would lead to a significant decrease in value for the remaining 90%, potentially wiping out the savings of more than half the country [4]. Group 2: Taxation and Public Finances - Cuban contends that even if governments were to seize all assets owned by billionaires, it would not substantially improve public finances, as it would not cover the federal deficit or single-payer healthcare costs [5][6]. - He emphasizes the need to find ways to help others earn more rather than solely focusing on taxing billionaires [6].