Zuckerberg stayed, others left: who left California because of the tax

The founder of Meta (recognized as an extremist organization and banned in Russia) Mark Zuckerberg entered into an agreement with the company under which he pledged to remain a resident of California or another region where Meta will be headquartered for eight years. This is reported by Wired with reference to the Meta documents submitted to the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on October 21.

Earlier, the billionaire (Forbes estimates a fortune of $239.3 billion) considered moving from California because of the possible introduction of a wealth tax. If approved, Zuckerberg’s potential tax could be around $12 billion.

The possible move of Zuckerberg became known in early 2026, when the media reported the purchase of his mansion in Florida. However, this happened after January 1, 2026, so the change of residence would not have allowed him to avoid the proposed tax. In addition, the property purchase was confirmed, not the final severance of tax ties with California.

A formal change of address is not enough to stop being considered a California tax resident. Special attention can be paid to billionaires who moved in the weeks before January 1. If the IRS decides that California has in fact remained their permanent home, it may demand payment of the tax.

What a wealth tax

California proposes a one-time tax of up to 5% on residents and trusts with assets of more than $ 1 billion. We are not talking about income for the year, but about the total state.

The tax is not yet valid, the vote will be held on November 3. If voters approve it, billionaires who were considered California residents on January 1, 2026 will have to pay. The proceeds are planned to be directed to health care, education and so on.

Who left California

According to Fortune, at least six billionaires said they would move out of California before January 1, 2026. Larry Page and Peter Thiel moved to Florida, Sergey Brin and Don Hankey to Nevada, Steven Spielberg to New York, and Travis Kalanick to Texas. At a rate of 5%, the tax on their aggregate wealth could amount to about $30 billion, RBC calculated.

Brin and Page were among the first billionaires to try to cut ties with California before the tax cut. Business Insider wrote that their associated T-Rex LLC on December 24, 2025 was transformed from a California company to a Delaware-registered T-Rex Holdings. Page also moved a family office and several structures to Delaware. Brin bought a mansion on the Nevada shore of Lake Tahoe in December and later listed Nevada as his state of residence.

The Financial Times also includes venture investor and White House adviser David Sachs. He, like Kalanick, announced a move to Texas before January 1. Estimates of Sachs' fortune range from $250 million to $2 billion, so not all publications include him as a billionaire.

Some billionaires are not going to leave. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang told Bloomberg that he had never thought about moving: “We chose to live in Silicon Valley, whatever taxes are imposed here, so be it.” According to Forbes on July 15, his fortune is estimated at $ 183 billion, a 5% fee will be $ 9.15 billion.

Suzanne Jimenez, a representative of the initiators of the tax, said that according to her, Huang’s position is shared by other California billionaires, although they are not ready to talk about it publicly.