Brin's Billionaire Bet: Google Co-Founder Donates $20 Million Against Proposed Wealth Tax

Google co-founder Sergey Brin has donated an additional $20 million to Building a Better California, a political committee opposing Proposition 40, the proposed billionaire wealth tax in California. This latest contribution brings Brin's total donations to over $102 million, making him the largest financial backer of the campaign.

The ballot measure, Proposition 40, would impose a one-time 5% tax on the wealth of California billionaires. In contrast, Building a Better California has primarily focused on defeating the proposed billionaire tax while also supporting pro-business initiatives and housing affordability measures.

Supporters of the wealth tax, led by healthcare workers' union SEIU-UHW, have raised just over $30 million, while opposition groups have collected more than $120 million. Building a Better California is also funding two competing ballot measures that could effectively nullify Proposition 40 if they receive more votes than the wealth tax proposal.

Brin's net worth is estimated at around $282 billion according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, and he has emerged as the central figure in Silicon Valley's opposition to the proposal. Several other technology executives and investors have also backed campaigns against the proposed tax, including Chris Larsen, Michael Moritz, Patrick Collison, Eric Schmidt, Peter Thiel, Stewart Resnick, Tony Xu, Max Levchin, Ron Conway, and Daniel Tierney.