Episode
Google Billionaire Sergey Brin Compares California Wealth Tax To Soviet Union Socialism
- Podcast
- Forbes Topline
- Published
- Apr 30, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 229
- Processing state
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- https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9721186374.mp3
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Summary
Billionaire Google co-founder and ex-California resident Sergey Brin has said he’s adamantly opposed to a proposed one-time, 5% tax on the wealth of California residents (and has spent $57 million to fight it) because he fears it will lead the state down a similar socialist path as that of the former Soviet Union, which his family fled when he was 6 years old. Brin, who has moved from a backer of liberal causes to a supporter of Republican President Donald Trump, told the New York Times in a rare statement: “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place.” The proposed tax would apply to California residents with assets worth at least $1.1 billion and has pushed a number of bold-faced billionaires, including Brin, to leave the state. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices