California, USA: Voters reject the 5% flat tax for billionaires

California voters rejected Proposition 40, which called for introducing a one-time 5% tax on fortunes exceeding 1.1 billion dollars to fund the healthcare system, affected by federal budget cuts.

The measure would have targeted approximately 200 billionaires, including Mark Zuckerberg, Kim Kardashian, and Oprah Winfrey, and could have generated around 100 billion dollars. If adopted, it would have represented the world’s first tax directly targeting the wealth of billionaires.

The initiative faced opposition from figures such as Google co-founder Sergey Brin and Governor Gavin Newsom, who warned that the tax could prompt wealthy individuals to leave the state. Brin reportedly contributed more than 100 million dollars to an organization that funded campaigns against the measure, according to the Los Angeles Times.

Dave Regan, the leader of the union that supported the initiative, announced that he would try to reintroduce the tax into public debate during the 2028 elections.

California, home to the largest economy in the US, has one of the highest concentrations of billionaires in the world, but also a high level of economic inequality.