r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 18d ago

Society Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses

https://fortune.com/article/how-much-has-google-cofounder-sergey-brin-spent-to-oppose-california-billionaire-tax-102-million-owe-13-billion-if-loses/
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u/ltsouthernbelle 17d ago

Serious question: what does one individual who already has vast amounts of money, homes, cars, all the toys and luxuries they desire do with $13b?

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u/Kekafuch 17d ago

They link up with other billionaires and decide how they are going to fuck shit up.

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u/BogiDope 17d ago

Dragon sickness

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u/veerKg_CSS_Geologist 17d ago

It’s about power. You might not be able to buy more consumer goods but having $60 billion gives you more power than having $3 billion.

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u/AppearanceDizzy7006 17d ago

Its basically a pissing contest when it gets to this sort of wealth

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u/UnidentifiedTomato 17d ago

Serious answer: it stays in his company

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u/A5Wags 17d ago

This is Reddit. People don’t want the serious answer—they want the emotional one to justify their pound of flesh mentality.

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u/constablepancakes 17d ago

What’s your best answer then, Advocate for the Devil?

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u/A5Wags 17d ago

Advocate for principles-backed policies rather than ones based on vibes.

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u/constablepancakes 15d ago

Which billionaire is lobbying for those?

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 6d ago

they are trying to hand Ukraine to Russia and chop their own taxes.

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u/RealCaptainIowa 17d ago

Wow, downvoted for the actual correct answer. People don't understand the difference between cash and equity. He doesn't have $13B lying around in checking/savings, it's mostly all in GOOG stock. If he is taxed, he's forced to sell it and give up a corresponding amount of ownership.

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u/A5Wags 17d ago

Yep, which exposes the company to activist investors / hostile takeovers. As a “zag” to this “zig”, the company could be forced to reduce its employee equity pool and give more to the CEO to retain control. But honestly, I think this is moot as the Supreme Court will likely deem this unconstitutional.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 11d ago

he can get a loan to pay his taxes and pay over time. he and his pals financed the administration that is chopping the healthcare the tax will pay for. It wouldn’t be necessary is the US wasn’t chopping Medicare, Medicaid in order to blow billions attacking other countries.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 7d ago

he is not forced to sell, he can get a loan against the stock to pay the tax, and his shares increase in value at a much higher rate than the interest he would be charged on it. The one time tax is probably far less than the Bush/Trump tax cuts let him keep, and is dedicated to fixing the mess those cuts created in the health care budget for 1.7 million people. Try caring more about the 1.7 million more than one rich guy who will still be insanely rich, and makes way more than five percent in a year.

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u/RealCaptainIowa 7d ago

Fair point about the loan.

> Try caring more about the 1.7 million more than one rich guy who will still be insanely rich, and makes way more than five percent in a year.

I think you assumed I thought of that and still wrote my comment. Frankly I did not and this was news to me that you could get a loan of such high value :) With that new information, I'm not as attached to my initial comment.

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u/Zip2kx 17d ago

So? It’s a holding company that employs nothing

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u/SmartlyArtly 16d ago

Except when he wants to use it.

Then he gets to.

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u/MrThird312 17d ago

Even more reasons to take it for the greater good

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u/InsertClichehereok 17d ago

Serious reply: F brin and his company

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u/UnidentifiedTomato 17d ago

Easy to say when all you need to do is jump on the bandwagon. I'm not saying don't tax billionaires but the how is a different conversation entirely. Also you need to consider how greedy google could have been they've provided so much access to tech for everyone at relatively small cost to consumers. Just saying f this or that is silly and infantile

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u/constablepancakes 17d ago

Keep it from you. Rich is not about gaining address. It’s about denying access

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 17d ago

You are enormously rich in comparison to Bangladesh people. Let’s assume you need to pay a tax of 5% of you wealth (eg 5% of your house cost + 5% from your earnings this year + 5% of your car cost +5% of potential inheritance - and all is measured by some nominated admins). And then money will be given to Bangladesh civil servants.

So, will you try to avoid that to happen or you simply give the money? 

Please not - you are extremely rich in compare to Bangladeshi. 

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u/Aggravating-Method24 15d ago

Extremely rich means nothing. You need to represent in terms of accessible real wealth. So while I am extremely rich compared to a bangledeshi with this loss in wealth I would lose the ability to holiday, or eat quality food, perhaps be forced to downsize my home. 

Which of these would a billionaire be risking? None... Obviously 

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 12d ago

Well I already pay taxes that go to foreign aid (or did) through efforts like USAID. But I pay as a percentage way more than Brin does. A larger percentage of my money is going to combat diseases in developing countries than his.

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 12d ago

And so? You are answering like a billionaire. They also claim they pay taxes. And the same with you - they refuse to help the poorer just because they are poorer. 

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 12d ago edited 12d ago

They don’t pay the same percentage of taxes as the vast majority of Americans. We aren’t asking for Brin to give up everything he has. We are asking him to give up the same amount that we have all agreed to give up. They claim they pay taxes but we can see that they actually don’t.

I would also like to point out that the difference between me and Brin is the same as me and someone who’s entire net worth is around 3 cents. If you even have a place to live and some clothes you are closer to me than I am to him.

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 12d ago

So, you think that people richer than you should pay more. You are richer and a Bangladeshi citizen, so of course you can pay more and give money to their government. 

Simply do this without a lot of objections.

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 12d ago

I think everyone should pay AT LEAST the same percentage. The problem is that people who don’t make their money from a paycheck can do lots of fancy accounting to prevent themselves from paying their fair share. That’s what this is all about. That’s what California is attempting to recover.

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 12d ago

And again, you found a good excuse to promote your way of asking others to pay more and keep your payments the same. This is exactly what billionaires do.

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u/[deleted] 12d ago

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 12d ago

Oh, dear… I demonstrated your position was wrong, and you immediately started personal attacks here.

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u/gigantic0603 14d ago

Why are you talking about people here paying taxes for Bangladesh? We’re talking about people living here paying taxes according their earnings in the country they’re living in. Like, I’m not rich but I’m still paying 25% of my yearly income in taxes while people earning enough less than me are paying less in taxes. It’s the same principle for billionaires

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 14d ago

Why do you use the same rhetoric as billionaires? They also don’t understand why they should pay more and more money to support someone else.

And yes - you are ultra rich in comparison to Bangladesh people, so you should be happy to give a fair share of your wealth to them.

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u/gigantic0603 14d ago

I didn’t use the rhetoric as billionaires? There are people paying lower % of their income as taxes because their gross income is lower than me, which I understand. Just like how billionaires should be paying their share of taxes.

I don’t live in Bangladesh, if I was living there I’d be paying my share in taxes based on my income there and their laws. I think you’re confusing responsibility with charity.

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u/MinusBear 13d ago

Transferring wealth from one country to another is not the same as asking members of your own country to pay their fair share in taxes. Its crazy that the poor are taxed at a higher rate than billionaires in the same country. We're not asking them to pay more, we're asking them to pay the same percent.

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u/Impressive-Weird-908 12d ago

They are not ultra rich compared to someone in Bangladesh. The median has about 27 times more wealth than the median person in Bangladesh. Go do the math on the difference between the median American and Brin. I’ll give you a hint, it’s orders of magnitude more.

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u/MinusBear 13d ago

What weird logic is that, I am am extremely rich compared to a Bangladeshi and my tax is about 14%. I have problems with corruption, which is my only issue with paying tax. If I knew that my money was actually being used to help the poor people in my country, or any other country, I would experience nothing but joy paying that 14%.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 17d ago

  Why would he give a flying shit about random people in some country that isn’t worth thinking about?

And now you literally think as a billionaire :)

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u/repeatrep 13d ago

“i want to be able to live in my own country comfortably”

“why not go to bangladesh and live like a king?”

“because im not in bangladesh…”

“checkmate, commie”

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

Analogies are not arguments. This is just made-up fantasy.

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u/ShinyElisabeth77 17d ago

No. This is the perfect explanation that people here have the same mind as billionaires. 

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u/Used-Huckleberry-320 13d ago

yep, and people don't realise in the west how well of they have it.

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u/Wobbly_Princess 17d ago

Own it. That's... literally it. After hoarding absurd amounts of material goods, they simply sit on it.

It's a status thing, it's a power thing.

These people are operating on a psychological wavelength that we as normal people can't conceive of, because their brains work differently.

A small percent of the population, whether they are good or bad people, simply don't have a rich well of empathy that connects them to other people, so they simply interface with reality through the lens of power and grabbling.

Some of these people who lack empathy are still able to conduct themselves well and do the right thing because they're pro-social and don't desire hurting people, but there are others who truly don't care about doing damage, as long as they can be in power. They're not turned off by the mess of it, as long as there are mechanisms in place that keep them at a safe distance from the devastation they're causing.

Unfortunately because the system has slowly grown into a machine that props up and empowers people who hoard vast amounts of wealth, we're now in a mess.

It's not unsolvable, but holy shit, this has formed into something way larger and more menacing than it ever should have, and to be honest, this is all of our faults. It's not just the rich people with different brains, it's also a sleepy population who in many ways allowed for the gradual encroachment of things that should have been tossed out decades ago.

Lastly I wanna say, I don't even know if he's entirely wrong in his pursuit, because if you do heavily tax the rich, they'll probably just fuck off elsewhere, and that also causes economic damage.

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u/UffTaTa123 17d ago

well, we naerly, reallly nearly got a worldwide minimum company tax as a first step to keep those companies accountable and to prevent them from just fleeing to the next tax heaven.

But well, then the american people in their endless wisdom decided to put a bancrupter and mental ill person in charge who wanted to steal and hord as much money as possible.

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u/IamB_Meister 17d ago

Show your work?

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u/theanxioussnail 17d ago

It was an initiative uner janet yellen. She worked under biden and was talking to the eu and china about it

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u/welpWW3isgonnasuck 17d ago

Its not even material. The vast majority of the money isnt liquid. Its watching numbers go up on a screen. 

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u/PoL0 17d ago

it's pretty easily solvable. just tax big fortunes. stop with the tax incentives for big corporations and rich people.

the usual counterargument is that fortunes leave when states do that. so what? they aren't paying their taxes anyway so they can fuck off.

billionaires should be the most grateful for public services and infrastructure. it's what holds their businesses and workers.

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u/ZealousidealCrow8492 17d ago

These people easily forget that UNIONS were / are the compromise replacement for guillotines.

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u/MinusBear 13d ago

This. Every billionaire on this planet is heavily subsidised by our taxes, and yet they are so reticent to pay the very bill that has lead to their great fortune. Proof that they're mostly just lucky and willing to be evil, and not necessarily smart.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

and bring back inheritance taxes over a million and close the trust stuff that keeps the wealthy from ever paying.

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u/kahlzun 17d ago

I'm hesitant to tax inheritances, that has always seemed ghoulish

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u/biggiy05 17d ago

After a certain number it's hard to feel ghoulish let alone bad. I don't know what the exact number would be but a sliding tax based on the amount above X dollars seems like a reasonable idea. If someone is inheriting $100 million then some level of tax is fair imo.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 16d ago

look, if you exempt the land, live stock and equipment value of working farms, and set the base inheritance at a million, then people leave their heirs a very good start at retirement and we taxpayers end up with far less debt to pay interest on. Current interest payments on US debt is $1 Trillion per year. We could do a LOT with a trillion a year if the people who have money helped pay off the debt. Everyone could have affordable health insurance,

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u/MinusBear 13d ago

The only time I think it ever feels ghoulish is when someone who does not own a home might inherit a home, but the act of inheriting causes a tax fee that would make them lose that home. But other than that, there probably should be some level of tax, as the person said tax over a million, that seems pretty fair. Maybe I would extend it to tax over a million per person inheriting. So if you had 5 kids and split 4.9 million evenly between them, none would pay tax. Pretty good way of making more people wealthy.

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u/accomplished_bee5542 17d ago

They won't go anywhere. No country actually does well when they tax everyone but the rich, no one has real reason to do it. So if countries start working in their best interest, not the interest of the very few who only extract wealth, these people will have no place to go. And if they do make one up, you can always fuck up their ways of extracting wealth in your country.

There are ways, a good amount of poor people adoring these empathy challenged clowns need to stop protecting their interests hoping they'll share wealth and power. It's ridiculous. The word "simping" applies to no one better than it does to the regular people running around protecting, admiring and offering preferential treatment to someone who has a lot of money and therefore " status".

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u/textmint 17d ago

These guys are like dragons of myth. Hoarding treasure ensuring that no one can have it.

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u/Affectionate-Alps527 17d ago

Almost like dragons in treasure caves is a metaphor.

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PROFILE 17d ago

It’s been proven time and time again, this doesn’t happen?

They own capital so if they sell capital it changes hands.

They don’t pay income taxes. They pay a fewer total percentage (if any tax at all) on their capital. They write off the interest on that less than 1% loan using equity as collateral. Effectively they STEAL money from the system.

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u/dill_e_dill_e 11d ago

Yeah isn’t it interesting how he can go public and live high on the hog without giving up any? Plus this same mfer has special shares so he still always maintain power.

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u/Proper_Initiative123 17d ago

I'd rather get 13 billion from them once, then keep them forever at 100 million...

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u/scottprian 17d ago

Spend it on legal fees probably.

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u/kangaroolander_oz 17d ago

'Elsewhere' is presently under threat of spillage of the numerous wars in progress and repeated threats of extermination across the board.

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u/Exciting_Ask_eaty 17d ago

Not true, at some point it’s only about buying influence not the money itself

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u/I_SHIT_IN_A_BAG 17d ago

they aren't going anywhere. they just threaten it and if some other country want Elon Mark or really any of them, they can fucking have em

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u/NewsShoddy3834 17d ago

The modern Smaug.

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u/JohnQRF 17d ago

fuck off where exactly? they can't pull this shit in other countries that's for sure.

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u/Lakerlegend6266 17d ago

Yeah, I don’t understand the “take their ball and go to other developed country” logic. Like what other country even enables the accumulation of wealth at scale the way the US does (while avoiding other lifestyle complications)?

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u/batalyst 17d ago

You have no fucking idea. You honestly think these people are sat on that much cash ? The value is based on the equity they own in their businesses. Selling would remove control and direction, lead to massive jobs cuts and huge reduction in development of new technologies.

Grow the fuck up.

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u/nellyfullauto 17d ago

Yeah that’s what Rich people do - innovate new technologies. They don’t buy up the competing tech, kill the company, and bury it under their own inferior slop. Nope. That’s not Google business model. 

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u/Wheat_Grinder 17d ago

They're already job cutting machines, and the direction they're on is towards monopolies. I'll take my chances honestly 

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u/ItchyNebula7437 17d ago

Exactly, this is just fear mongering from the rich.

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u/Rezfield 17d ago

Fuck yeah brother! Don't tax the rich! ✊

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u/batalyst 17d ago

So many idiots.

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u/SuperNewk 17d ago

Right, I think the issue is buy borrow and die?

Some argue your case when this happens, we will see mass selling and it will crash markets as we don’t have enough new buyers to pick up the selling.

Unless say prices are 80-90% lower

One thing is for sure, it will be an interesting case study

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u/PM_ME_YOUR_PROFILE 17d ago

Job losses of the equity is sold and has to change hands? 

Tell is you don't understand economics and how publicly traded companies work without telling us.

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u/GoyoMRG 17d ago

We need to introduce them to some sort of collectors competition where they collect something based on how much they contribute positively to their environment and society

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u/Raskalbot 17d ago

Where have all the dragonslayers gone?

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u/Sweetdreams6t9 17d ago

Ive been saying its all of our fault since I understood people. Weve allowed it through apathy.

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u/gadgetwalrus 16d ago

This tax is a fabulous idea, but it’s worth pointing out that it would cost him more than 13b to pay 13b in Californias tax.

Because he won’t have 13b in cash, he will have to liquidate assets to pay for it, which will cause the value of those assets to drop and also mean he will incur federal taxes like income and capital gains taxes.

So this change is not only of benefit for California, it benefits us all.

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u/MinusBear 13d ago

The rich leaving is sort of a myth. Technically they are able to. But there are huge problems, firstly they're rich so they are usually living where they chose to live. They may throw a tantrum, but they probably still want to live where they chose to. Then there is the asset problem, Sergey may try to leave California, but his biggest business campus, the majority of his employees, and most of the things that make him money are all in California and not so easily moved. Then if he does move, it just frees up space for someone else, allowing everyone some room to move up. If all billionaires fled and also sold all their properties, property prices would come down. Lastly, many countries actually don't legally allow people to flee until their taxes are settled, and they don't allow their citizens to use tax havens to shell company their way out of tax responsibilities, this removes the incentive to move. So it is possible to stop it.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/kahlzun 17d ago

One thing that I was told once is that morality is literally not taught to the rich in the same way, that concepts of fairness and equality are literally psyops to try and make it harder for The Poors to ever break through into their spaces because we can't make the same ruthless decisions

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u/-thecheesus- 17d ago

It's not about using the money. Acquiring the money is their passion/interest/hobby/sickness

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/ActualMediocreLawyer 17d ago

When a game/passion/interest/hobby becomes an obsession/addiction, it is equivalent to a sickness. That's it.

Jerking off is not a bad thing, but if you do it 20 times a day it is.

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u/Electrical_Tennis424 17d ago

Status, power. Greed.

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u/macguyver3000 17d ago

He’s got everything he could possibly ever want or need. So the only thing that’s left is to want more power. And being told you have to give your money to the country to help other people is taking that power away. It’s greed, basically.

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u/Flannel_Panels 17d ago

The cost of a politican correlates with the cost of inflation.

One goes up, so does the other.

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u/hikikomori_007 17d ago

its called being an old hateful pos who got lucky during the 90s-00s (and wants to prevent anything good for others) there is a fk ton of these ppl.

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u/AntChampion 17d ago

If you want an honest answer: it's not 13bn in cash, it's 13bn in stocks. He would have to sell some of his ownership stake in Alphabet to pay this tax.

Another way to look at it is the state of California is forcing him to give them a portion of his company. It's less of a tax and more of a force sale of goods.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

He can get a loan against the stock to pay his taxes, or sell a yacht or two to keep health care available to 1.7 million people projected to lose their coverage to the Republican cuts to Medicare and Medicaid. Brin and his cronies bought a conservative federal government that created the problem, they can pay for the mess they created instead of sticking the rest of us with the bill.

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u/Jaded-Argument9961 14d ago

The loan has to be repaid

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 11d ago

how awful he will need to pay his taxes like the rest of us. He can pay over time and keep his company.

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u/Jaded-Argument9961 11d ago

He's not paying his taxes like the rest of us. He's getting a large one time tax in addition to his normal taxes

That's not what the rest of us get

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 7d ago

guys like him do not pay much taxes at all. they hide their money and pay off politicians to cut their taxes to the point where they get refunds on not paying anything.

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u/Jaded-Argument9961 7d ago

You thinking someone primarily invested in a US public company can "hide their money" just shows how little you know about how any of this works

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 6d ago

did you miss the Panama Papers?

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u/Jaded-Argument9961 6d ago

Did you realize that not a single US billionaire was implicated in those files? Like excuse me?? Lmfao

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u/gonads_in_space2 17d ago

And he'd lose control of google if the tax is high enough.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

he won’t. a bank will loan him money against the shares and he will write it off against his next taxes.

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u/PopularMission8727 17d ago

huh it’s shares of his company? Ok forget about the monetary value for a second, because he definitely doesn’t have this amount in cash. Would you be ok if the government told any business owner “we are gonna take X% of your company”? Because that’s basically what it is for a founder, if your company is successful enough it’s the equivalent of taking a % of property of your company, because you’ll have no choice than selling shares in order to pay the amount.

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

Yet he was able to spend $102 million on politics.

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u/PopularMission8727 17d ago

$13 Billions is 100x more.

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u/Suitable_Ant_7685 13d ago

The problem is that billionaires are able to access money tax free by borrowing and using the stock as collateral. So not only do they not pay taxes on that money most actually claim tax reduction based of the borrowed amount.

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u/PopularMission8727 13d ago

Whether this is unfair is debatable; they still have to pay some non-negligible interest rate (a quick Google search tells me about 5~6% ?), so it's not like it's a free loophole.

The real unfairness is why would the capital gain reset at inheritance (see https://www.investopedia.com/terms/s/stepupinbasis.asp), if the capital gain were preserved over inheritance then doing lombard loan would just delay the capital gain at sell, but doing a lombard loan until death can effectively wipe-up the tax on capital gains on next generation (and I don't see a justification for that), imo if there is one thing people need to ask for is getting ride of this.

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u/Lephas 14d ago

well since they are being PAID in stocks to avoid taxes the classic incime tax clearly doesnt work anymore. 

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u/PopularMission8727 14d ago

1) co-founder don’t get paid with shares, they own most of the shares already
2) even if they were paid with shares, RSUs are taxed as income.

And people like you vote…

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u/Romek_himself 17d ago

they dont have this money and dont use it like you use money. they use money to make money and live from the profits. thats why they never go lower and just get more.

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u/StarYou-StarMe 17d ago

To stick it to us who don’t have $250b

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u/BedroomNo6879 17d ago

Why should they just give it away? California has a balanced budget and a surplus at that.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

the problem is the war spending and a tax system that allows the people with the mist to not pay any. The individuals with the most money have spent decades making sure we have massive debt instead of them paying a fair share. When conservatives are in power, they never cut spending, they just aim government money differently, giving it to the wealthy people who put them in power.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

the rich have the majority of the money. A flat tax hits the poor much harder than the rich. The government spends to help the people at the bottom a little, and that is what the conservatives always cut. the do not cut the trillion dollar warplane contracts, they do not cut Musk’s billions, they cut health insurance to poor six year old with cancer. and the billionaires do not fund nearly enough charities to make up the difference.

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

and without irs enforcement, they will not bother to pay at all. The wealthy in this country have failed to pay $34 Billion in taxes they owe and just don’t file. They bought a complex system to excuse them not paying a fair share. Simplification would be good. Flat tax is not the answer. The US should definately end corporate tax deductions for hiring non American workers and building facilities outside the US. They should have to pay the price of outsourcing jobs.

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u/Lisshopops 17d ago

Hoard it in case something absolutely terrible and expensive happens

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u/Dry_Yogurtcloset_114 17d ago

yes,but

Private property is sacred and inviolable.

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/Zestyclose-Height-36 17d ago

cutting food safety and infectious disease monitoring has gone very very badly. Getting rid of 98% of government will totally fail everyone. Corporations don’t care if the poison the air land and water, as long as they make more money, and the only way to know what they do is government. they would happily bring back slavery if they could, and you are welcome to move to Elon’s company town if you wish, but the rest of us have no wish to die at work to make billionaires more money.

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u/Dry_Yogurtcloset_114 16d ago

I’m serious—I truly believe that private property is sacred and inviolable, as long as it’s earned through lawful means.

But there are a few points on which I disagree with you.

I support small government, but not anarchism. 98% is too high; without a government to set rules, the market would descend into chaotic competition, which would inevitably lead to monopolies.

Furthermore, society must preserve the dignity of the poor and ensure that everyone can live with dignity. This requires the government to provide a safety net, so that everyone feels empowered to work hard and take risks.

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

Yeah no. We are talking about billions that can buy politicians. You are never going to be in this position. The proposed laws are not even close to touch ordinary person ever.

Your theoretical principles seem like religion.

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u/Lord_Abort 17d ago

Buy more companies to make more money so you can buy more companies to make more money so you can.........

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u/Queasy_Artist6891 17d ago

It'd just a hoarders mentality. Like, they are able to lobby(aka buy politicians) for .1% of the tax they would pay, so why would a mentally ill person not do it?

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u/74389654 17d ago

political power

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u/covidlung 17d ago

It's a dick measuring contest amongst the rich; they have their own social circles where they compare dick sizes. Look at their megayatchs and gigayatchs, and other obscene displays of wealth.

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u/drivemusicnow 17d ago

With Sergei it’s actually different. He’s getting taxed on voting rights for shares he doesn’t actually own.

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u/alkbch 17d ago

Put a down payment on an aircraft carrier

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u/Ambitious-Pirate-505 17d ago

Buy politicians Bro. Thats way.

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u/AlternativeWonder471 17d ago

Serious answer:

Buy a business.

Direct labour.

Effect policy.

Change culture.

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u/PixellordOverHill 17d ago

Number go up

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u/Important-Today4119 17d ago

All those things pay taxes every year.

Also, just because you have 13b in assets, doesn't mean you have 13b to give.

Its like Elon Musk, he is the richest man, because his companies are worth the absurd amount they are. If they should all fail (like the stock market collapses, which isn't that farfetched given how bloated the AI bubble is), he is as poor as any of us instantly.

Net worth is a dumb way of measuring how rich someone is. Is more loke potential value rather than real value.

Even if Musk would sell all of his stock, he still wouldn't get near half of his current net worth because as soon as he started dumping it the value would plummet and his "nrt worth" would crash just as fast.

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

This is not entirely true. They us stocks as collateral to borrow money from banks, which obviously is not taxed.

Also, just because you have 13b in assets, doesn't mean you have 13b to give.

And yet they have millions to spend on politics.

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u/Important-Today4119 17d ago

And yet they have millions to spend on politics.

Millions aren't billions.

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u/StaticSystemShock 17d ago

These people have a mental disease. If you hoard shit of any kind you'll get diagnosed with hoarding disorder. If you hoard money and wealth you're just called "a billionaire".

The fact that they can throw around just 100 millions which is nothing for them to keep multiple billions is so wild. Like, fuck these people, they are literal parasites. They never have enough. Just like parasites.

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u/Aries_cz 17d ago

He doesn't actually have the money laying around in a Scrooge McDuck money bin. It is tied to the values of companies, etc.

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

Yet has money to spend million on politics.

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u/UslyfoxU 17d ago

Use it to silence people and cover up various crimes

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u/ignatiu5 17d ago

But they worked hard to earn it. /s

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u/robertDouglass 17d ago

It's not about material needs, it's about power and control

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u/SaiyanKnight23 17d ago

Maybe get an island and party … i hear those are popular with the rich

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u/Arnold_Shortzweather 17d ago

I've never understood it. I mean don't get me wrong I'd love to be rich and never have to worry about bills and taking care of my people but that is literally it.

These guys hoard wealth like fuckin Smaug from LOTR and they never seem to do anything productive with their wealth except use it acquire more wealth?

Like cool I guess do you 🤷

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u/gonads_in_space2 17d ago

His wealth is almost all google stock, which means he's run google for the last decades and has been a part of all their innovation.

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u/selflessrebel 17d ago

He doesn't have 13 billion in cash in the bank, that would be stupid. To pay the tax he would have to sell assets, like stocks in his company, which he doesn't want to do.

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u/TheFallingShit 17d ago

Jeez, you guys talk about billionaires like they spawn fully formed with a vault and a monocle.

“What does he even need $13B for?” Is Need here with us in the room? That’s beside the point.

He spent decades building a life where that wealth means ownership, leverage, freedom, projects, influence, hell, probably part of his identity.

Then the rules change and someone goes, “Hey buddy, listen, that wealth you accumulated from the entire world? Yeah, we want $13B of it. No biggie.”

And you’re confused that he fights back?

Are u mad? 

Color me surprised that the personality profile required to build something like Google isn’t exactly “sure guys, take whatever you think is fair. Actually, you know what.  why don't you take this pink strapon I like to use to get fucked in the ass."

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u/9millibros 17d ago

These are not well-adjusted people.

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u/JustAMinah 17d ago

buy people and laws so they can continue to do whatever they want. if you can literally buy your way through life and not be made/forced to, why would one give up that privilege? money is just power

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u/BenderTheIV 17d ago

That's the $13b question!

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u/ColdStockSweat 17d ago

Spend it (themselves).

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u/JasonG784 17d ago

Not have it stolen by scum.

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u/Justaregard 17d ago

Buy politicians.

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u/WatcherOfTheWay 17d ago

They are scum, if they were good people they'd be using their insane wealth to help people, they don't and that tells you everything you need to know.

Often some of the kindest people you'll meet have very little themselves and still give to help others

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u/Farucci 17d ago

It’s really about keeping score to lay claim as the winner once you have more money than you can spend.

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u/accidental-eeyore 17d ago

Billionaires shouldn't exist and he is, unwittingly, providing the exact example as to why.

He and his corporation have benefited from vast swaths of taxpayer built infrastructure (electric, water, roads, education, I mean... like the fucking internet itself, etc) and his company has received countless tax benefits/incentives offered by this country that is not offered anywhere else in the world. All of this was made possible and backed by US tax payers.

Now, when the taxpayers are saying "hey, now it's time to pitch in for the continued betterment of US society", this motherfucker is stomping his feet like a fucking child and screaming "NO! MINE!"...

Fuck this guy. Sieze all his fucking assets. Launch him into the fucking sun. This is as anti-American and anti-Democratic as you can get. Especially when there are millions in the US living with food, home, and income insecurity.

Absolutely fuck everything about this fucking guy.

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u/Blackout38 17d ago

You own businesses with it. $13bil that has to come out of businesses. No one literally owns $1bil they own iou’s for $1bil. When that gets taxed like you actually have it then you have to recall the IOU to pay it. That means the business you are invested in have to close or fire people to pay the IOU back.

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u/SoochSooch 17d ago

A billionaire is their own empire. That means other empires, like the USA, are their competition. An enemy to be exploited and destroyed. Making everyone else lose 1000 points is the same as them gaining 1000 points.

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u/ghost49x 17d ago

Invest it in various projects and businesses?

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u/Greghole 17d ago

They use it to operate Google.

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u/Penis-Dance 17d ago

It's not in cash. Business assets.

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u/leoyvr 16d ago

More power, control and money. This is why they bought the Republican Party. 

The tech billionaires aka Nerd Reich’s  goal is to destroy this current global system of things and install techno authoritarian states with mass surveillance run by corporations around the world. They don’t want democracy.  This is what concentration of wealth looks like: a worldwide coup. Tech billionaires are the enemy of humankind.

https://youtu.be/6iLf2h_fo-w

https://www.thenerdreich.com/

https://theplotagainstamerica.com/

https://youtu.be/5RpPTRcz1no

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u/yaemiko0330 16d ago

I think you have to be aware that he probably doesnt care much either, his would have layer do this for him. It's a pure future optimization for him that doesnt require much effort from him self.

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u/philipwhiuk 16d ago

Fund a rocket company

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u/Dracorvo 16d ago

They don't have a concept of enough

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u/HarryPotthead42069 16d ago

Or it’s probably the other way around where he doesn’t have 13 billion to pay the IRS. Just cause he’s worth X amount on paper doesn’t mean he has it liquid to pay a tax bill. And let’s be real, the money isn’t going to schools or roads, it’s gonna line the pockets of people underneath him who also want to become rich 🤷🏻‍♂️

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u/AmonRa_Lindros 15d ago

They don’t owe it to anyone else, certainly not a useless state to squander it away

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u/Daddy_Sweets 15d ago

It’s a direct one time 5% tax of people (not companies) who have failed to pay their due for decades. The article is doing simple math and somewhat reductive. Does he have $13B liquidity, yes. Even if there is stock valuation in his multi-billionaire status, those can be turned over; you know, the same way every other person in the US would have to do if we were required to pay back taxes we manipulated the system out of.

Not sure who the billionaire apologists are on this thread, but I have zero sympathy for an individual who can pay someone $102M off the top and not feel a pinch. These greedy pigs have fed off the public trough with their white collar welfare far too long and it’s time to pay the piper.

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u/torpedospurs 13d ago

They can buy a lot of influence with this much money. Fund a bunch of think tanks and university departments to do research on policies that they like. Create lobbying goods to get their own agenda front and center amongst politicians.

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u/Broad-Eagle9657 17d ago

They just build on it like any other mentally ill hoarder who has suffered a loss they cannot fill the ho.e in their soul from... There will never be enough for them and there will never be a good reason they'll give you why they keep it, instead of using it. You could go to any trailer park in the US amd see the same behavior, but instead of money, its dead relatives shit or old cars. Its the same mentality, just different income bracket

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u/ltsouthernbelle 17d ago

As weird as that sounds it makes so much sense.

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u/Zirowe 17d ago

Ho.e?

Wtf is with this kind of demented censoring?;

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/Appropriate_Luck_658 17d ago

Are those "other ways" also dependent on unlimited growth (aka climate change)?

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u/[deleted] 17d ago

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u/v3ritas1989 17d ago edited 17d ago

Most retarded question...

He does NOT have that money. He owns companies and stocks that are WORTH that much. Meaning his worth are the Buildings, cars, machines, and computers. Future earnings and tax payments of the companies. That money is already spent and taxed or not yet realised earnings.

Needing to pay this means selling shit to afford it. Possible important company assets if he doesn't want to sell his house or boat.

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