Nvidia CEO and California-based billionaire Jensen Huang says he does not oppose a proposed one-time 5% tax on the state’s ultra-wealthy residents, unlike his other rich counterparts.
If passed, the bill imposes a flat-rate tax on more than 250 billionaires in the state. Many of them and their allies argue the tax could drive its wealthiest residents to leave.
Huang, the eight-richest man in the world, couldn’t care less.
“We chose to live in Silicon Valley and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it,” he told Bloomberg Television. “I’m perfectly fine with it. It never crossed my mind once.”
Forbes estimates Huang’s net worth at $163.2 billion, which means he would owe about $8.16 billion under the proposed bill. In 2025, Nvidia grossed a revenue of $57 billion, and Huang owns 3 percent of the company which went public in 1999.
Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW) —- the union that represents more than 120,000 healthcare in California — proposed the ballot initiative. The measure would tax assets like stocks, art and intellectual property — but not real estate or most retirement funds — with most of the revenue going to healthcare. The measure could raise tens of billions of dollars over several years, according to the California Attorney General’s Office.
Venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya says this tax could worsen the budget deficit.
“People I know, with a collective net worth of $500B, scrambled and left California for good yesterday,” he wrote on X. “Fraud and abuse runs rampant from the hundreds of billions in revenues the state already collects.”
People I know, with a collective net worth of $500B, scrambled and left California for good yesterday.
They took no risk because of the proposed asset seizure tax – introduced as a “Billionaire Tax”.
Without these people, the California budget deficit will only get bigger.…
— Chamath Palihapitiya (@chamath) January 1, 2026
Google co-founder Larry Page is one step ahead. Business Insider reported that he may have already moved out of the state. Other big names include Peter Thiel, the billionaire venture capitalist and cofounder of PayPal, and Larry Ellison, the cofounder and executive chairman of Oracle who recently acquired Paramount.
Billionaires within Trump’s orbit have also raised concerns. San Francisco–based venture capitalist and White House adviser David Sacks took to X to make his frustration clear.
“After blindly funding the Left for years, Silicon Valley is finally realizing what time it is. Dinner time. And they’re on the menu,” he wrote.
After blindly funding the Left for years, Silicon Valley is finally realizing what time it is. Dinner time. And they’re on the menu.
— David Sacks (@DavidSacks) December 29, 2025
But California’s top leader isn’t fully on board. Gov. Gavin Newsom has pushed back on the plan, saying the state has to stay competitive.
“We’re in a competitive environment,” Newsom said recently. “You’ve got to be pragmatic about it.”
However, Supporters of the measure argue that warnings about billionaires fleeing the state are exaggerated, and that the tax is a fair way to help cover looming Medicaid funding shortfalls.
