Matthew HaugheyIs there a website that tracks every California billionaire (who built their entire career inside the state and benefited immensely from it) who moved to Florida or Texas because CA passed a modest new tax on the ultra, ultra wealthy to help pay their share for the state that made them rich?
Seeing both Google founders flee the state, then Mark Zuckerberg, Peter Thiel and now Uber CEO Travis K they're all cowards who want to take their ball and go home instead of slicing a tiny portion off their insanely high wealth that will already last them hundreds of years
The Google founders took advantage of all the things the state had to offer for decades. They built a company & themselves into some of the richest people on earth but they BOTH immediately bail when the people passed a law that lets lucky folks support the state that made their lives possible?
I know Google let go of "don't be evil" but taking the first plane out of the state when they ask for a small percentage of your wildly lofty wealth is kinda, sorta in the realm of being evil with your spoils.
yoasif@mathowie I mean, they are evil. https://journals.law.unc.edu/ncjolt/blogs/wage-fixing-scheme-shocks-silicon-valley-google-apple-and-many-others-now-under-doj-investigation/
Wage Fixing Scheme Shocks Silicon Valley: Google, Apple, and Many Others Now Under DOJ Investigation
When you think of Google, Dell, and Virgin Industries, one of the first things that comes to mind is their legendary treatment of their employees. Modern, beautiful campuses with flexible work hours, state of the art fitness centers and cafeterias, and the championing of a happy and balanced profession are all hallmarks of these popular ...
Dinah 🕊🇺🇦@mathowie When anyone is going hungry, is homeless, is without healthcare, it is evil.
Massive individual wealth is bad for humanity. We need to create a ceiling and a culture of pride not in "number forever go up" but in "how many times can you slap the ceiling?"
And as the floor gets raised by the 100% tax above the ceiling, great, then the ceiling can go up.
@metagrrrl yep, 100% agree
OlivetreeIn his book *Toxic Rich* (german only), Sebastian Klein, one of the founders of Blinkist, describes how becoming rich changed his way of thinking - from “how do I pay my bills” to “how do I get more and more.” It became so unsettling to him that he cuts his Assets to half a million euros and has become an #taxtherich activist.
I suppose everyone who becomes rich experiences this shift in thinking, but only a few take such drastic measures.
Since the rich are only interested in increasing their wealth, they become a threat to democracy.
It is always cheaper to buy politicians than to pay fair taxes, and so they will always influence society in such a way that nothing is taken from them.
The rich are the only minority that truly is a danger for society.
Pete Prodoehl 🍕@mathowie Just proof they do not give a shit about anyone but themselves.
Dave Slusher - Tech Stuff@rasterweb @mathowie There is a real "Quick, cut the rope ladder!" energy from a bunch of people who just climbed in the chopper. The Epstein class are really self-involved dicks.
zompus
Marsh Gardiner 🌱🐝@mathowie It's almost as if moral failure is a necessary condition for billionaire-ism…
Archagon@mathowie Thought I'd peek in Wikipedia, and...
"In December 2025, Page and Brin, worth a combined $520 billion, terminated or moved out of California sixty limited liability companies that hold their assets."
SIXTY? It saddens me that these two were once dorky ass grad students. Look what money turned them into.
@archagon back when I was a grad student I made $800/mo from a research grant and my apartment was $400/mo and I carry the lessons I learned from those years and still think about it every day, 30 years later.
Morgan Fletcher
Krypt3ia
David Fi&er@mathowie maybe California can try to pull the same stunt that the feds do and implement extraterritorial income taxes
Waldo Jaquith@mathowie “Imagine having so much money that you could live where you want.”
Yes, but turns out you can have *too much* money, and then you can only live where your *money* wants to live, never mind where *you* want to live.
mtnrbq65
jwz
clew
ChancerubbageMost of that sort I see were real estate developer types seeking greener pastures, churning their earnings into more and easier fix and flip.
Taxes ARE probably part of that picture.
Mack Reed@mathowie Washington state might be just about to have a similar exodus thanks to the "millionaire's tax" just passed: https://www.politico.com/news/2026/03/12/washington-state-millionaires-tax-00826182
Jay@WhiteCatTamer @mathowie that’s the belief of the common folk hereabouts, for sure - the tax is a net benefit - but the rich and their money managers are in a pearl-clutching panic.
@mathowie It could be a fun (read: depressing) project to plot billionaires on a timeline, graphing the tax rate, amount, and net worth throughout the years, highlighting any changes to tax laws and moves.
I’d be willing to bet that if you did the same with millionaires, there would be far less movement, especially as you go from hundreds to tens to ones, even if they paid similar amounts.