{"podcast":{"title":"Forbes Topline","slug":"forbes-topline-6026943","podcast_index_feed_id":6026943,"rss_url":"https://feeds.megaphone.fm/FSML1431996687","website_url":null,"image_url":"https://megaphone.imgix.net/podcasts/fbb9b836-2205-11f1-a886-efbe5b012d6e/image/f311e6ddb329fca86325c7391a344da7.jpg?ixlib=rails-4.3.1&max-w=3000&max-h=3000&fit=crop&auto=format,compress","author":"Forbes","episode_count":40,"summary":"Forbes Topline brings the day's top stories from the Forbes Breaking News desk directly to your feed.","last_synced_at":"2026-07-18T20:19:37.942576+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943"},"episode":{"title":"Google Billionaire Sergey Brin Compares California Wealth Tax To Soviet Union Socialism","slug":"google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism","published_at":"2026-04-30T07:30:00+00:00","page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism","show_page_url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943","url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9721186374.mp3","audio_url":"https://traffic.megaphone.fm/FSML9721186374.mp3","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","meta_description":"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 Calif…","key_points":[],"chapters":[],"topics":[],"duration_seconds":229,"processing_state":"not_requested","actions":[{"name":"request_transcript","method":"POST","url":"https://stenobird.com/v1/public/podcasts/forbes-topline-6026943/episodes/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism/transcription-requests","description":"Idempotently request low-priority transcript generation for this episode."},{"name":"read_markdown","method":"GET","url":"https://stenobird.com/podcast/forbes-topline-6026943/google-billionaire-sergey-brin-compares-california-wealth-tax-to-soviet-union-socialism.md","description":"Read the agent-friendly Markdown representation of this episode resource."}]}}