The war over California’s proposed ‘billionaire tax’ is getting weird. This week, amid the continued hatred of the tech elites over the much-maligned law, it emerged that someone is planning a so-called “March for Billionaires” in San Francisco. A website advertising the event appeared on the Internet, providing little context beyond the shameful tagline: “Insulting billionaires is popular. Losing is expensive.”
The immediate reaction was disbelief and most people assumed it was some bizarre hoax. “It’s a joke/satire, isn’t it?” one social media user wrote shortly after the news spread. However, now the apparent organizer behind the event has revealed that the march definitely isNo a joke and that it is to be held this coming Saturday.
The San Francisco Examiner first reported that Derik Kaufmann, the founder of AI startup RunRL, who previously participated in the accelerator program Y Combinator, was revealed as the organizer of the event. Kaufmann told the Examiner that no outside group, no big money association or company is funding or organizing the event — just him.
In an interview with TechCrunch, Kaufmann — who also told the Examiner he’s no longer involved with RunRL — confirmed that the impetus for the upcoming rally was California’s proposed wealth tax, which the tech founder believed would “pretty much hurt the tech economy.”
The policy in question, the Billionaire Tax Act, was introduced last year and would require Californians worth over $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth. The legislation, which is backed by the state’s Service Employees International Union (SEIU), could pay for important public services and help the state offset recent federal funding cuts, according to some experts. However, the policy has led to vocal protests from some of the tech industry’s most prominent figures, many of whom have either threatened to leave California or have already left. It also led to a monsoon of lobbying in the California legislature to defeat the law.
When asked why he opposed the legislation, Kaufmann expressed concern about how the bill could affect Silicon Valley’s fledgling economy. “This tax in particular is fatally flawed,” he said. “It hits startup founders whose wealth is only on paper. They would be forced to liquidate shares on potentially disadvantageous terms, pay capital gains taxes and relinquish control. Not to mention the difficulty of valuing private companies.”
“Many founders would be hit with wildly disproportionate tax bills,” Kaufmann continued. “Furthermore, there is no precedent for this kind of comprehensive wealth tax in the US. Sweden removed theirs 20 years ago to deter capital theft and encourage entrepreneurship, and now has 50% more billionaires per capital than the US.”
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Online conversation about Kaufmann’s planned event continued to alternate between disbelief and derision. “I can’t imagine billionaires marching in the streets,” one social media user said of the event.
That person would probably be right.
Kaufmann told TC that he was not yet aware of any actual billionaires planning to attend the march, which was organized in their honor. Kaufmann said “several dozen attendees” are likely to attend the event, though he stressed that it’s not really clear how many people will show up.
The continued outrage over the proposed tax is somewhat laughable, given that it has long been known that the legislation has little to no chance of becoming law. That’s because California Governor Gavin Newsom has already said he would veto the bill if it were to pass.