California set to reject billionaire wealth tax, a proposal Patrick Collison spent heavily to oppose

A PROPOSAL TO place a one-time tax on billionaires in California, something Irish billionaire Patrick Collison campaigned heavily against, looks set to fail.

When Californians went to the polls on Tuesday to vote in the midterm elections, they were also offered the opportunity to vote on Proposition 40.

Proposition 40 seeks to impose a one-time, 5% tax on individuals and trusts with over $1 billion (€887.55 million) in assets, and allocate the revenues to fund healthcare, food assistance and education.

As of 10.20am local time, with 60% of the votes counted, those saying “no” to Proposition 40 were in the lead, on 55.6%, with the “yes” camp on 44.4%.

While Forbes Magazine has said the vote is “too close to call” just yet, it added that heavy spending in opposition to the proposal by California’s billionaire class “appears to be working”.

California is home to around 260 billionaires and those backing the proposal expressed hope that the move could set a precedent for other parts of the country to follow.

But opponents of the measure, including Stripe co-founder Patrick Collison, have stumped up more than $300 million (€266.26 million) to defeat the proposal.

Opponents have argued that the move would push the wealthy to leave California, reducing the amount of tax the state can raise.

According to the Los Angeles Times, Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who first moved to California in 1993, was by far the largest spender in opposing the measure.

He is said to have spent $102 million (€90.53 million) in opposing Proposition 40 – this is less than 1% of his estimated tax bill should the measure pass.

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Meanwhile, the LA Times said Stripe CEO Collison has spent some $33 million (€29.29 million) to oppose Proposition 40.

This made him the fourth-largest donor to the no campaign.

“No” campaign commercials, which played wall-to-wall across TV stations in California’s expensive media market, offered doom-laden predictions around the proposal.

“The concern is that individuals, business owners and such will anticipate that it likely will be repeated,” said Kirk Stark, a tax law professor at the University of California, Los Angeles, of the proposal.

And while the no camp had a $300 million (€266.26 million) war chest, the sponsors of the bill, the SEIU United Healthcare Workers West, raised only around $32 million (€28.4 million) to support its campaign.

However, it is not only the billionaires who planned to vote against the plan.

Outgoing Governor Gavin Newsom, widely expected to make a run for the White House in 2028, said he too would vote no.

Newsom had warned that the move would result in the State’s wealthiest people leaving California and taking their tax dollars with them.

Meanwhile, United Domestic Workers, a union representing 250,000 home care and child care providers, had also urged its members to vote no, arguing that the one-time tax is no way to plug multi-billion dollar holes in the state’s budget.

California has previously voted three times this decade on a wealth tax, rejecting it every time.

-With additional reporting from AFP 2026