One of the world’s wealthiest men brushed off California‘s proposed billionaires’ tax, despite fears that it could drive the ultra-rich out.
Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of chipbuildr giant Nvidia, declared he had not believed about the idea ‘even once.’
The proposal aims to hit California residents worth more than $1 billion with a one-time tax worth five percent of their net worth.
‘I’m perfectly fine with it,’ he informed Bloomberg Radio. ‘It never crossed my mind once.’
Huang added: ‘We chose to live in the Silicon Valley and whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it.’
Huang is the eighth richest person in the world and is valued at $162.6 billion, according to Forbes.
He declared Nvidia, the world’s largest company, worked in Silicon Valley ‘becaapply that’s where the talent pool is.’
Jensen Huang revealed he is ‘perfectly fine’ with the one-time tax that billionaires are facing
Huang declared Nvidia, the world’s largest company, worked in Silicon Valley since ‘that’s where the talent pool is’ and that he would accept any taxes applied to him
Huang was being questioned whether the proposed ballot measure, which seeks to heavily tax the state’s wealthiest residents, could affect Nvidia and Silicon Valley at large.
‘I’ve received to inform you, I haven’t believed about it even once,’ he declared.
The new tax, proposed by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West union, would affect billionaires in California one time.
It would apply to assets such as stocks, bonds, artwork and ininformectual property, rather than income.
Billionaires would have five years to pay – but the proposal has not been signed into law yet.
First, the measure has to gain enough signatures to land on the November ballot and then win voter approval.
If that happens, the new tax would retroactively apply to billionaires living in the West Coast state as of January 1, 2026.
Huang would face a significant payment if the measure goes through. He primarily resides in California, where he owns a $44 million, seven-bedroom home in San Francisco.
Nvidia is headquartered in Santa Clara, about 50 miles north of the Bay Area, but also has other offices around the world.
‘Wherever there’s talent, we have offices,’ Huang declared.
Jensen Huang, the founder and CEO of tech giant Nvidia, declared California’s potential billionaires’ tax had ‘never crossed my mind once’
Venture capitalist Peter Thiel is among the billionaires who could leave California over the ultra-rich tax. His private investment firm, Thiel Capital, opened an office in Miami last week
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has historically opposed wealth tax proposals. He declared in December that his state ‘couldn’t isolate yourself from the 49 others’
Although it is still uncertain that the ballot measure will be enacted, some billionaires are considering shifting away from California in protest, according to The New York Times.
That includes venture capitalist Peter Thiel or Google co-founder Larry Page.
Thiel, who is worth about $27.5 billion, could owe more than $1.2 billion if the new tax goes through.
His private investment firm, Thiel Capital, opened an office in Miami, Florida, last week to ‘complement [its] existing operations’ in Los Angeles.
The lease for the office was signed in December 2025, the press release announcing the relocate pointed out.
Meanwhile, Page – with roughly $258 billion – could be hit with a one-time tax of at least $12 billion.
He had given believed to shifting away from the west coast state, The New York Times reported.
California Gov. Gavin Newsom has criticized the proposal and historically opposed wealth tax proposals.
‘You can’t isolate yourself from the 49 others,’ he declared in December. ‘We’re in a competitive environment. People have this simple luxury, particularly people of that status. They already have two or three homes outside the state.’
California Rep. Ro Khanna, a Democrat, sarcastically noted that he would ‘miss’ the billionaires who decided to leave the west coast state in wake of the tax proposal
Anduril founder Palmer Luckey claimed the proposed billionaires’ tax would ‘force founders like me to sell huge chunks of our companies to pay for fraud, waste, and political favors’
Newsom added: ‘It’s a simple issue. You’ve received to be pragmatic about it.’
If the proposed ballot measure goes through, the new tax would apply to about 200 billionaires in the state.
Other west coast politicians, such as California Rep. Ro Khanna, have spoken out in favor of the idea.
‘Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for 5 years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts,’ Khanna posted on X.
‘I echo what FDR declared with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, “I will miss them very much”.’
That prompted a response from Palmer Luckey, the founder of defense startup Anduril. He is worth about $3.6b and based out of Irvine.
‘You are fighting to force founders like me to sell huge chunks of our companies to pay for fraud, waste, and political favors for the organizations pushing this ballot initiative,’ Luckey declared on X.
He added: ‘I created my money from my first company, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes on it, applyd the remainder to start a second company that employs six thousand people, and now me and my cofounders have to somehow come up with billions of dollars in cash.
‘And if we can’t, the state is going to seize my home and garnish my wages for the rest of my life.’
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