Billionaires fleeing West Coast taxes relocate to Florida, taking an estimated $29 billion in potential tax revenue with them

Billionaires including Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg and Jeff Bezos are relocating from California and Washington to Florida ahead of proposed wealth taxes, taking an estimated $29 billion in potential tax revenue with them.

Original report
fortune.com

Industry impact

State-level wealth and high-earner tax proposals are accelerating ultra-wealthy relocation to no-income-tax states, reshaping where billionaire capital and residency concentrate nationally.

A wave of billionaires is leaving California and Washington State for Florida, driven by proposed and enacted wealth taxes, with an estimated $29 billion in potential tax revenue departing alongside them. Google cofounders Larry Page (net worth $295 billion) and Sergey Brin (net worth $275 billion) left California before the January 1, 2026 deadline tied to the state's proposed Billionaire Tax Act, which would impose a one-time 5% levy on the total net worth of billionaires who resided in California after that date; both have purchased property in Florida, and a back-of-the-envelope calculation puts Page's potential liability at roughly $14 billion and Brin's at roughly $13 billion. Uber cofounder Travis Kalanick relocated to Texas.

The California Billionaire Tax Act, if passed, would affect approximately 200 people and aims to raise $100 billion for healthcare, education and food assistance, requiring only a simple majority in the November election to amend the state constitution. A UC Berkeley Institute of Governmental Studies poll found 48% of likely voters supporting the measure and 41% opposing it. Brin has donated $102 million to Building a Better California, a PAC promoting three counter-measures that could block the tax, including $20 million earlier this month, while Peter Thiel donated $3 million to the California Business Roundtable to oppose it.

Former Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz (net worth $3.4 billion) and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg (net worth $196 billion) also purchased Florida property this year, joining Jeff Bezos, Ken Griffin and Larry Ellison, who have bought property or moved company operations to the state in recent years. Washington Governor Bob Ferguson signed a 9.9% tax on earnings above $1 million in March, aiming to raise $3 billion to $4 billion annually, and both Bezos and Schultz left Seattle before it took effect. Griffin moved Citadel from Chicago to Miami in June 2022, citing crime and politics, and has since invested billions in Florida real estate. Florida has no state income tax and no capital gains tax; Miami's ultra-luxury housing market recorded 361 home sales at $10 million or more in 2025, with $50 million-plus sales accounting for 7% of the market, up from none five years ago. Zuckerberg and Priscilla Chan purchased a $170 million mansion on Indian Creek Island near Bezos's under-construction compound, an island with 41 residents and 24/7 security where Bezos has bought three multimillion-dollar properties.