California voters will decide this November whether to impose a one-time wealth tax on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires, a measure pitched by supporters as narrow and temporary. But some high-net-worth Californians are not waiting to see whether it passes. Several prominent founders and investors have already moved, reduced California ties, or shifted assets ahead of the proposal’s Jan. 1 residency date.
Supporters say the tax would directly apply only to the wealthiest sliver of residents. Not everyone in its path is convinced the one-time label will hold.
Joshua Rauh, Ormond Family Professor of Finance at Stanford’s Graduate School of Business, argues the exodus carries costs well beyond the billionaires themselves. He sits down with California Insider to explain what is written into the measure that has some of the state’s wealthiest residents preparing for it as if it will not stop at one time.
