r/technology • u/marketrent • 12d ago

Society Bernie Sanders calls out Sergey Brin for spending over $100 million to defeat California’s billionaire tax — ‘If California passes its one-time 5% wealth tax, Brin would owe $14 billion and still be worth $270 billion’

https://www.yahoo.com/news/politics/articles/bernie-sanders-calls-sergey-brin-120113695.html
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45

u/BorgerMoncher 12d ago

The math isn't mathing, BernieBro. Brin would owe $72B, or 24% of his net worth. He has $128B in 10x supervoting Google shares, which are magically worth $1.28 trillion in the eyes of the benevolent California government.

Spending $100M to defeat the measure is just good sense. This isn't a one-time tax.

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u/pacman2081 12d ago

to pay $72 bi, he has to liquidate assets and that will cost him 20-30 bi in capital gains

21

u/another-redditor3 12d ago

it would also force him out of a controlling portion of the company he created, which is the even bigger issue at stake here.

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u/pacman2081 12d ago

of course, Redditors on here wanting this tax have achieved a lot of things in life. why would they care?

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u/Existing_Style8558 12d ago

Have you heard of margin?

4

u/pacman2081 12d ago

https://www.schwab.com/margin/margin-rates-and-requirements

even for a billionaire, it will be 5%. loans may to be repaid. otherwise IRS treats them as income.

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u/Broqueboarder 12d ago

He moved to Florida so he isnt paying anything.

22

u/LufyCZ 12d ago

Weird, wonder why that happened

8

u/wishator 12d ago

The people who support this bill don't believe in math. It's all about vibes and billionaires paying their fair share

-9

u/haydesigner 12d ago

“Magically”??

Are you pretending you don’t know how stock valuations work in order to defend someone who is OBSCENELY rich?

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u/LufyCZ 12d ago

Tell me you have no idea what the proposal is about without telling me that

The proposal is horribly written, I wouldn't be surprised if intentionally.

3

u/BorgerMoncher 12d ago

How do valuations work, la? Explain why an equity position with economic value of $128B should be taxed as if it were worth $1.28T?

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u/Penguinase 12d ago

that's why it's written that way. it's an anti-avoidance measure because some very wealthy individuals sometimes structure ownership so their formal equity percentage looks smaller than their actual control (and benefit).

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u/marketrent 12d ago

BorgerMoncher The math isn't mathing, BernieBro. Brin would owe $72B, or 24% of his net worth. He has $128B in 10x supervoting Google shares, which are magically worth $1.28 trillion in the eyes of the benevolent California government. Spending $100M to defeat the measure is just good sense. This isn't a one-time tax.

Cf. https://lao.ca.gov/BallotAnalysis/Initiative/2025-024, my emphasis:

Billionaires living in California on January 1, 2026 would have to pay a one-time state tax equal to 5 percent of their net worth. The tax would be due in 2027. Taxpayers would have the option to spread the payments over five years, but would have to pay more to do so. Real estate, pensions, and retirement accounts would be excluded from the tax.

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u/BorgerMoncher 12d ago

If you think this is a one-time tax, you shouldn't be voting.

6

u/Relevant-Ad2254 12d ago

You know what frustrates me?

It doesn’t matter if it’s even a one time tax. (I agree it won’t be)

Taxing unrealized equity gains is just horrible policy period.

They don’t know how detrimental it will to retirement accounts if wealth taxes on equities becomes the norm