What Is The Billionaire Tax That Led Google Co-Founders Larry Page, Sergey Brin To Cut Ties With California?

Larry Page and Sergey Brin are scaling back their connections with California, the state where they built Google and amassed their fortunes, as a proposed billionaire tax gains momentum. An entity linked to the Google co-founders moved out of California just before the end of 2025, narrowly beating the deadline tied to the proposed levy on the ultra-wealthy.

According to a California filing reviewed by Business Insider, T-Rex LLC, formed in 2006 and connected to Page and Brin, converted out of California into a Delaware entity on Dec. 24, 2025. For nearly two decades, filings had listed both Page and Brin as managers of the LLC at a Palo Alto, California, address.

The timing of the move has drawn attention as California’s wealthiest residents assess whether to remain in the state. A proposed ballot measure would require around 200 to 250 California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion to pay a one-time tax. The initiative is being led by the labour union Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West.

The proposed California billionaire tax contains a provision that would make it extremely difficult for residents to avoid payment by relocating, according to tax attorneys, reported CNBC. Known as the Billionaire Tax Act, the measure could be added to the state’s general election ballot in November 2026 and would impose a one-time 5% tax on the total wealth of California tax residents whose net worth is $1 billion or more.

Unlike most new taxes, which apply only after approval, this proposal would apply retroactively to individuals who are California residents as of Jan. 1, 2026. This backdated trigger left little time for the state’s estimated 200 to 250 billionaires to alter their tax residency after learning of the proposal late in 2025.

According to The New York Times, the proposed wealth tax is being debated against the backdrop of widening income inequality in the United States. Data from the Congressional Budget Office show that over a 33-year period ending in 2022, the share of wealth held by families in the top 10% rose to around 69%, while families in the bottom 50% held just 3%.

In California, the measure could reportedly raise as much as $100 billion from about 200 billionaires. The funds could be used to offset federal budget cuts, adding to the political and economic stakes surrounding the proposal.

The proposed wealth tax has already prompted some of California’s richest residents to deepen their connections outside the state. In December 2025, venture capitalist Peter Thiel said he had opened a Miami office for his family investment firm. David Sacks, a tech investor and White House adviser on artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency, also announced a new office for his venture capital firm, Craft Ventures, in Austin, Texas, reported NYT.

Jensen Huang, the chief executive of Nvidia, however, have taken a different view. Huang, whose net worth is $153 billion as of Jan. 10, told Bloomberg Television this week that he is “perfectly fine with it.” He said, “We chose to live in Silicon Valley. And whatever taxes I guess they would like to apply, so be it.”