# Google Billionaire Sergey Brin Compares California Wealth Tax To Soviet Union Socialism

Page: https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism
Text version: https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism.md
Podcast: [Forbes Topline](https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943)
Published: 2026-04-30T07:30:00+00:00
Episode link: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9721186374.mp3
Audio file: https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9721186374.mp3
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JSON: https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/forbes-topline-6026943/episodes/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism
Duration seconds: 229

## Resource

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

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## Transcript

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