r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 1h ago
Business Zuckerberg considered leaving CA over wealth tax, Meta says
https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/21/zuckerberg-considered-leaving-ca-over-wealth-tax-meta-says-01131087197
u/Financial-Swim-5884 1h ago
Oh no! Anyway...
→ More replies (7)35
u/ApprehensiveTerm3351 1h ago
Why haven’t any billionaires moved to deeply red states and try to take over the Midwest
12
u/screwhead1 41m ago
I'd be amused to see those out of touch tech billionaires try to assimilate to being in the Mississippi Delta or around the bayous of south Louisiana.
1
u/drdeadringer 2m ago
"so, um, where do I shoot my gumbo?"
"is this where we dance the jambalaya?"
"is this fishing pole pump action, or do I have to caulk it?'
21
u/vomitHatSteve 54m ago
Hi! Tennessean here! They're working on it. The millionaires are coming here, and the billionaires are moving their businesses. (No, they are not paying taxes or creating jobs)
4
u/Mind_on_Idle 39m ago
Indiana chiming in. The bootlicking is heavy here, at least with our politicians.
9
u/musty_mage 54m ago
Yeah this is what the Russian trolls are spewing to Europeans.
Does anyone seriously think that ALL the money will flee to a culturally desolate desert if we tax it?
Oh just fuck off. There is no amount of tax that will make the Louvre move to Abu Dhabi.
178
u/chocolateboomslang 1h ago
People don't live in the place with the lowest taxes, they live where they like living, they'll say they're going to leave right until the day they pay the taxes.
100
u/Letsgettribal 1h ago
Imagine being that wealthy and living somewhere that you don’t want to just to cling to a little more wealth. Dragons sickness in full swing.
56
u/Wraith_Portal 1h ago
Imagine being that wealthy and still caring about taxes, he could lose 99% of his yearly income and still have enough wealth to live in unimaginable luxury and do literally anything he ever wants
0
6
u/9-11GaveMe5G 24m ago
I know a retiree (elderly extended relative) who lives 6.5 months of the year in a neighboring state to avoid half of his property tax. Drives 8 hours twice a year to live 5.5 months where he really wants to. He is not poor. He's just stupid
13
u/linerva 54m ago
Yes exactly. Most won't want to be in the middle of nowhere to save what is, to them, and relatively affordable sum:
it was recently suggested that the UK media were invebting stories about millionaires leaving the country over taxes. Last time one said he did, it turned out he hadn't lived here in like a decade.
There's this fear of taxing the ultra rich that assumes they'll all flee..and maybe some will. But given how wealthy they are, why would they?
Like, you and I wouldn't move over an 100 or even 1000 dollar increase in our tax. We'd complain but we dont want the inconvenience. To them the money is trifling. And if your country (and others are coordinated, then the rich couldn't flee to many places and would be more likely to pay up.
9
u/ResilientBiscuit 1h ago
People who's life goal is getting the most money are made happy when that number gets bigger. They will live in the place that gets them the most money because that is what they made their life about.
Some people love nature, some people love art and theater, some people love money. They are going to live in the place that gets them access to more of what they love if they can.
The only reason to have that much money is for the sake of having money. It is the life goal.
0
u/cum-on-in- 46m ago
No, the purpose of having so much money is because they know that even when they finally get caught and have to stop making money, they won’t be forced to give up any of it.
For example. If we get a blue wave for the midterms here in the US and someone like Elon Musk is forced to step down and away from his entire company assets so he no longer earns any more wealth and has to live off what he has, he’s fine, because if what all he has.
He won’t be forced to sell. He won’t be forced to pay fines or penalize or taxes. He will just no longer make any more money or asset value.
Every single rich person in the US knows this isn’t sustainable. They just want as much as they can get before it bursts so they can last the longest. It’s self preservation in the capitalism game, Monopoly.
1
u/ResilientBiscuit 28m ago
he’s fine, because if what all he has.
He was fine $999b ago. He would be fine on 0.01% of his net worth.
He isn't rich to hedge against stepping down or to survive the economic collapse. He is rich because being rich is the point.
If survival was the point, you would make your own little self sustaining colony somewhere and call it good at a couple billion or whatever. That is what gets you though whatever collapse you believe is coming. The only reason to have $1T in net worth is because chasing the big number after the dollar sign is the point.
1
-8
1h ago
[deleted]
7
u/cum-on-in- 48m ago
How so? Genuinely. Rich people purposefully avoid a traditional monetary salary to avoid paying income tax. But they draw loans on their net worth assets to buy whatever they want.
Why can’t they be taxed on their net worth and they can draw a loan against it? It would incentivize them to stop getting around income taxes since taxing net worth and drawing loans to pay it off is cyclical.
4
u/MongoBongoTown 43m ago
Fuck em. Let them leave.
If hording another small percentage of an amount of money 10 generations of your family couldn't possibly spend in their lifetimes, then honestly, get out.
The alternative is we just let billionaires continue to do whatever the fuck they want with massive incentives provided by the state and federal governments.
3
u/exileonmainst 43m ago
Some will leave, but fuck them. As with many regulations, CA goes first and eventually the rest of the states follow. Eventually you’ll either pay the tax or live in Mississippi.
3
u/milkandbutta 48m ago
How do you propose we tax people equitably who dodge their tax burden by living off loans that use their unrealized assets as collateral?
1
u/more_paul 28m ago
What do you mean a tax on someone’s net worth is a bad idea? That’s basically property tax for the majority of homeowners. Tax investments and cash on a progressive scale at like .25, .5, .75, 1, and 5% for anything over 10M, 50M, 100M, 1B, and 10B. If you can be taxed at that level then congratulations on winning life and your FU money. An advisory fee is a minimum of .25% and people pay that all the time for roboadvisors. They can afford it and it can easily be calculated.
46
u/justkeepswimming2026 1h ago
Hey Hawai’i if you are listening we need to tax the wealthy too!!!! Especially this mofo with living in Kauai
10
u/Spark_Miku_Miku 1h ago
Honestly, with how many rich assholes buy Hawaiian land, I think the taxes on rich organizations and people should go to supporting native Hawaiians and long term residents. Similarly to how Alaskans get money for the natural resources.
2
u/SteeveJoobs 55m ago
A pension for living in hawaii would make housing even more contested...
1
u/Spark_Miku_Miku 21m ago
Well, that's why we're focusing on the native Hawaiian population and actual long term residents. People who have lived there and have been impoverished by people buying hawaiian land and building hotels and bunkers and stuff...
53
u/ChanceHungry1444 1h ago
Billionaires are precious little bitches
11
u/Top-Base4502 1h ago
Taxes pay for the roads and public transportation that brings workers and makes it possible to transport goods.
Taxes pay for the public schools that train people for the jobs they need to run these companies.
Regulations create the clean air and water that draws people to live and build in certain parts of the country.
Public services like police, fire, hospitals make it possible to build a business.
Infrastructure like power, water, internet make it possible to grow these companies without a ton of start up.
But you ask these billionaires to pay back into the system they benefited from and they say they are self made.
29
u/Cinder_Gimbal 48m ago
Good riddance. He is not contributing anyway. He can move to Texas or wherever the fuck he wants. I knew a few people who were “sick and tired of liberal policies” and left California for Texas and Idaho. In a year or two they were back (Texas was too hot and humid and Idaho too boring).
2
33
u/Lorbmick 1h ago
Tax the rich. We did it before and we can do it again. They are not royalty. There is nothing special about them.
1
u/AngelComa 20m ago
They fixed that with citizens united and officially killing democracy. If you can just buy politicians then our votes are just performative outside of social issues.
0
u/cum-on-in- 42m ago
They aren’t royalty, but they pay the royalty a slice, so the royalty lets them pretend they have the title.
0
6
6
u/AI_ReleaseTheFIles 9m ago
In other words, CA doesn't allow me to screw their population over like I want. Let me move over to this other state where their leaders will allow me to screw their people over as much as I want with little to no push back. Thank you Republican state.
1
u/Magincia_the_Sleepy 0m ago
Ohgod, he's coming to Austin, isn't he. Lately, we've been raking in all the worst of the worst.
5
8
4
19
u/prophetmuhammad 1h ago
It's time to make all tax rates federal
1
u/linerva 50m ago
Even better, get together with other major allies and agree on geveral wealth taxes on the ultra rich. If say, the US, Canada UK, EU, Aus and NZ agreed, that would cover most places these billionaires would want to live in.
Some might move somewhere further, but most would have fomo and in realty would not relocate.
2
u/Serious-Wish4868 1h ago
hopefully with the new congress and new president ... positive changes to help the everyday ppl instead of the billionaires and corporations
-2
u/SplendidPunkinButter 1h ago
It’s cute that you think MAGA will admit they lost an election and certify the results that allow the opposition party to take over
2
u/cum-on-in- 44m ago
They don’t have a choice. Elections are certified by both parties, so they have to be impartial. Infighting will not end well.
-2
-7
u/Individual_Laugh1335 1h ago
Federal already takes most of your tax money and what do any of us have to show for it? Thats a terrible idea.
3
u/SplendidPunkinButter 1h ago
Federal does not take most of your money. You need to either learn how math works or learn what the word “most” means.
0
u/Individual_Laugh1335 1h ago
“Most of your tax money” clearly means out of the money that goes to your taxes that the federal government takes substantially more than others. Before you resort to insults you should call your 4th grade teacher to brush up on some of the reading comprehension you were supposed to learn in their class.
1
u/9-11GaveMe5G 19m ago
The federal top tax rate is currently 37%. From 1951-63 it was 91%. It was 95% in 1944-45. It was still 70% from 1971-80. We can do it again.
12
u/SAPianoman490 1h ago
Imagine having so much money and being willing to relocate your whole life because you might lose a tiny bit of it. Rich people are mentally ill.
-2
u/sloptop89 1h ago
It's the principal of it. We're poor so we wouldn't understand.
0
u/_zir_ 15m ago
How about the principle of the fact that he isnt working 1,000,000x as hard as McDonald's employee. Does he deserve the money? Sure, he made a product people like, but at some point you just make more because you have more, and you don't need to work (at least not as hard, soemtimes not at all) for it. If he wanted he can hire someone to make his money make him money and make more money and not do anything. Meanwhile some other person can be contributing most of their time to working and not have much at all. Im not saying some communist shit, but you can't say that billionaires work soooo much harder that they earn that much money. No, its luck and capital ownership compounding and compounding.
1
u/sloptop89 4m ago
It's not about who works harder or what they do for a living... That's severely irrelevant.
It doesn't matter how much money he has and how he made it or how much work it took... It's his money.
And if his own principles about his own money are... If people want to tax him more cause he has it so he'll just move where that isn't the case... That's his business. He has every right to do that.
That's his money. Silly to think that when it gets to a certain amount.. you feel the right to tell someone how they should act with it.
Do I think rich people should be taxed more and that they can live on way less... Hell yeah
But I'd fell stupid judging someone for having their thoughts and plans with their own money.
12
3
3
3
3
13
11
u/clintontg 1h ago edited 1h ago
I don’t understand being that upset over paying 5% of your wealth when it’s in the billions. At that point you’ll just recoup that money in less than 2 years from whatever investments you have, barring a recession.
2
u/flywithpeace 1h ago
It’s about the precedent. If CA can do it, then other states also can. Then it’s nationwide. And it becomes worldwide.
1
u/Secure_Indication167 30m ago
That’s kind of the point. It will never happen, but that’s the intent.
No one needs that much money. I’m worth a large amount but a fraction of Zuckerberg. I haven’t thought about money In years and would gladly pay 5% of wealth to the government if my fellow citizens voted and i was asked to.
Guys, these people are kleptomaniacs. They want every penny they can get and want to rule you with absolute power. Don’t protect them, don’t defend them.
Make. Them. Do. The. Right. Thing.
3
u/killer_one 38m ago
There’s a really interesting theory about billionaires that basically claims that only narcissists and people with dark pattern traits tend to become billionaires.
Any reasonable or sane person would have stopped at a certain number of millions of dollars in wealth and happily retired to live out the rest of their days comfort and luxury. But it takes a special type of psycho to see all that money in their bank account and think “nah I want more”
1
u/Greener-dayz 20m ago
Or even just stopping to keep track of how rich you are. After someone becomes a billionaire their money is gaining and losing in giant swings every other week. The fact that he wants to run away because of a tax at this point shows he’s a fucking narcissist
→ More replies (3)-5
u/UnidentifiedTomato 27m ago
It doesn't sound interesting and sounds ignorant af lol. You know how many people start businesses but fail? These guys were at the right place and at the right time. Plenty failed or sold out where they probably would've failed simply because of momentum.
2
u/bozo-dub 8m ago
Okay, but we’re not simply talking about successful business owners… not even millionaires, we’re talking about billionaires
2
u/vivekpatel62 51m ago
People overlook that you have to sell a part of your ownership of your company every time you have to pay this tax. Even i wouldn’t want to sell parts of my much smaller business for a wealth tax. The tax will never be a one time thing and eventually the wealth taxed individuals will have no ownership of my company anymore.
3
u/Ok-Addition1264 31m ago
?? no you don't. that's a half-assed excuse if they try to use that too.
They manipulated our political system and exploited EVERYONES resources and infrastructure to get what they have. They need to pay. I personally know a handful of billionaires and two of them are totally fine with this but the rest of them are sociopaths.
1
u/vivekpatel62 28m ago
I mean I could be wrong but from my understanding is that almost of these billionaires are wealthy via their ownership of the companies. They have the majority of the shares so if you taxed them on their shares (wealth) wouldn’t you be losing ownership every year the wealth tax is implemented?
1
u/resilindsey 19m ago
It's a one time wealth tax.
Billionaires always have tricky financials like borrowing against their shares so they have liquid finances without giving up ownership. (Usually done to skirt capital gains taxes in the first place.)
Also, I forgot, fuck billionaires.
1
u/michaelstuttgart-142 13m ago
It’s not going to be a one time tax. A one time tax will fund the state for about 3 months. As a yearly levy on all wealth above a certain threshold it actually would give the state a great deal of fiscal lassitude for how to approach spending.
1
u/SaturdaysAFTBs 6m ago
Because they are worried about the second tax and the third and so on. Why would it stop at a one time tax? Have you ever heard of a one time tax?
-1
-5
u/SplendidPunkinButter 1h ago
Shoot I’ll pay 95% of my wealth if it’s in the billions. Even if it’s in the ONE billion. That would still leave me $50 million, which is far more than I can expect to realistically earn in my entire life.
3
u/SteeveJoobs 54m ago
How are you supposed to invest in ten different society-destroying capitalist ventures with only $50 million???
2
2
u/DiGiTaL_pIrAtE 30m ago
Imagine being so upset of a 5% tax increase you are willing to up your life and move, and deal with all the hassel, and frustrations behind moving. But yet, this billionaire hires someone to do all the 'hard' stuff for him.
Not only that, us commonfolk eat tax increases every year.
2
2
u/LifeFeckinBrilliant 18m ago
Can't he fuck off to Mars with Lone Skum... They can take Thiel & Bezos along as well.
2
2
4
u/mrjolong 1h ago
Oh no the person who doesn’t pay taxes is leaving the place that wants him to actually contribute something, whatever will CA do 😱
4
u/Bageland2000 22m ago
May Meta suddenly and decisively become bankrupt and may Zuckerberg lose everything he has.
3
u/Small_Parfait_3027 51m ago
The thing that's dumb about this tax is that it's a one-time thing. I don't think a one-time tax will fix anything, and I think they're going to use it to their defense.
"We already tried taxing the billionaires once, and nothing happened!"
6
u/MagicBobert 49m ago
It’s about shifting the Overton window. We can tax the billionaires now AND tax them in the future too. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
1
u/Small_Parfait_3027 46m ago
I guess I didn't think about shifting the Overton window, but you're not worried that they're going to use this as an excuse? Not starting with an annual tax on people making billions seems intentional.
0
u/MagicBobert 23m ago
Taxing the billionaires is always good. Gotta start somewhere! It’s the tax that’s on the ballot, so let’s get it done! 💪
1
3
u/ItzChiips 29m ago
Everyone not worried about AI taking their job because they think wealth will be redistributed and the billionaires will take care of us, take not, he won't even pay taxes now lmao
2
2
1h ago
[deleted]
-1
u/Individual_Laugh1335 1h ago
I mean you can make tons of solid arguments that at the state level tax leads to excess waste, at the federal level even more and at the global level you would be lucky to get a penny of value returned to the people for each dollar spent.
1
u/nickstatus 1h ago
That "waste" is people who aren't billionaire parasites earning a living. billionaires are financial black holes. Money only goes in, it never comes back out, and the bigger the hoard, the more money they passively hoover up without doing any actual work.They don't spend their own money EVER, that's the first thing they teach their children. Economy only works when money is constantly moving. The only way to free up that money they hoard is to take it. Whether by being taxed, or being drawn and quartered, that's sort of up to them. Where do you even think taxes go?
2
2
2
2
2
u/MrSquicky 15m ago edited 10m ago
Oh, you are going to uproot your life and go move to a shithole red state over paying an amount of money that is completely meaningless to you? Sure Jan.
3
u/StlCyclone 1h ago
He made his money selling our private information. He shouldnt be required to share that fortune with the peasants. /s
2
2
u/BlackExcellence19 49m ago
I know it won’t happen until the US shifts vastly leftward, but an easy way to punish these cowardly billionaires who threaten to leave is just place an exit tax on them. It will force their hand because they either say they will leave and they don’t (which is the most common scenario which happens even now; Washington millionaire tax for example) OR they leave and you still get to collect taxes from them anyway.
We need to stop letting billionaires bully the entire fucking country or we will just continue to fall further into the pit of despair.
3
2
u/daveden123 1h ago
I'll hold my breath while he decides. I don't give a fuck what these Oligarchs are "considering" or "pondering".... Fuck 'em.
1
u/JohnnyFiction 55m ago
They always bluff with this laughably bs. Where is he going to go that will provide with the same ideal weather, convenience, opportunity, culinary variety and service that California does? Nowhere. Let him pretend to leave like the manbaby he is
1
1
u/kummer5peck 53m ago
Can he get on his mega yacht and sail off into the sunset, never to be seen again?
1
1
1
u/Zombucket 46m ago
So many issues with how our taxes are figured.Just taxing the wealthy isn’t enough. Yes- it’s needed, but we need to fix the systems that allowed them to become what they have become, not just slap a little fine on them now and not fix the underlying system.
1
1
u/door_of_doom 40m ago
I don't really get it, are we supposed to be like "Oh no, please don't go, we will miss you!"
1
u/logopolis01 38m ago
A few wealthy people left New York after they implemented wealth taxes, but more came to replace them.
This is a nothing burger.
1
1
1
1
u/Forward-Trade3449 15m ago
serious question, if billionaires existing anywhere can increase property prices and cost of living, will them leaving actually be a negative thing?
i know rich flight is largely a myth anyways. but if they did leave, its not like they were adding much to the state in the first place right?
theyre adding.. jobs? the jobs will stay..
1
1
u/OG_Tater 1h ago
And then he didn’t because they restructured shares to create a bunch of non voting shares he could dump so he doesn’t lose control of meta
2
u/hellowiththepudding 1h ago
Same as with 2017 tax reform, calculate it as of year end, and the first draft of the bill. Tax the higher of the two.
2
u/GoblinTwerk 1h ago
I propose Zuckerberg and Musk both get together and take a one-way trip to Mars. There are no taxes on Mars afterall.
1
u/ICLazeru 1h ago
Fine. He'll still do business there. And if he doesn't, he'll make room for a better business to come along anyway.
1
u/Numerous_Money4276 27m ago
They are in a bubble and underestimating how much an abundance of people wouldn’t give two fucks if these Bay Area tech assholes left the state
1
u/Ornery_Run2700 26m ago
It's crazy trillionaires have billions, and are scared of tax. What a beautiful world we live in
1
u/Antique-Freedom-7891 24m ago
Red states are expecting you, Zuck... but until then we want our tax $
1
0
0
u/raventhrowaway666 1h ago
We should be eating them like Hannibal Lecter not begging them to stay. That can't even pay their fair share of taxes.
0
u/chonky_tortoise 1h ago
People circle jerking here as if capital flight isn’t a real problem. Billionaires pay ~3-5% of the total tax bill in CA. I hate the guy too but scaring him off to Texas helps nobody.
0
u/Suspicious_Sir2312 1h ago
truly don’t understand how he could
be so massively rich and be an even more massive tool
0
0
0
0
u/patsfan258 51m ago
I mean I'm all for taxing the wealthy but the way this tax is laid out is pretty bad. A one time tax in what can be classified as assets doesn't really solve anything. It's just one lump sum, no continuity with this and there will be huge arguments on what are assets that should be taxed. This isn't the way to do it.
3
u/MagicBobert 48m ago
It fixes an immediate funding probably for California’s healthcare system caused by the big beautiful bill. Which is what it was designed to do. We can do this tax AND tax the billionaires in the future too. Don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
-1
u/Coffee_Transfusion 1h ago
We need exit taxes for these shithead oligarchs.
Exit taxes so high that you reeeaally have to want to leave to make it worth it.
0
0
u/Big_Issue8640 1h ago
He should leave the country because after this pedophile regime is over he’s getting investigated along with the rest of those traitors.
-1
u/dropthemagic 1h ago
Lol these fuckers say this but still want everything that comes with living in cali
0
u/Ordinary_Study_2175 1h ago
Poor baby man. Pathetic how people with so much don't give back - psychotic.
0
0
0
653
u/Pandemic_Academic 1h ago
How about he just goes to his private island that he bought, live there for the rest of his life, and never talk to anyone else again