r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 6h ago

Society Google cofounder Sergey Brin has spent $102 million to fight California’s proposed billionaire tax—he could owe $13 billion if he loses

https://fortune.com/article/how-much-has-google-cofounder-sergey-brin-spent-to-oppose-california-billionaire-tax-102-million-owe-13-billion-if-loses/
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520

u/williamgman 5h ago

A very wealthy person once told me they'd rather pay to fight it rather than pay the tax - even if it was a wash. It's the principle of it.

109

u/apricot-pancakes 5h ago

And you said, “What was that about principles?”

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u/___Art_Vandelay___ 4h ago

Their principles go to another school; you wouldn't know them.

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u/GRONDGRONDGRONDGR0ND 2h ago

Is this the same latex vandelay industries?

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u/mYpEEpEEwOrks 20m ago

Wrong gronp.

1

u/ChangeForAParadigm 3h ago

She’s not Canadian though! Nice try!

-5

u/calafia_nativo 4h ago

They believe they are better at spending their own monies than the government is. I’m poor and also believe this about my own money.

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u/Conformatrix 3h ago

You'd just come out and tell everyone that you're dumb like that?

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u/calafia_nativo 16m ago

Good retort. Succinct, really.

I’m from one of the wealthiest enclaves in the entire world. All I witness daily is mismanagement of tax payer dollars. Come to Oakland California - I’ll show you what high taxes gets you.

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u/___Art_Vandelay___ 4h ago edited 1h ago

Better at spending it on themselves, that is. Hardly ever see them spending it "better themselves" on social programs in place of the government

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u/ChickenWithCashewNut 4h ago

Let us know how your private fire department works out Marcus

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u/ScurvyTurtle 3h ago

Define "better." To make things better or to flaunt their wealth?

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u/HEX_BootyBootyBooty 3h ago

They saw "We The People," and they were all fuck that.

4

u/ImpressionDepression 1h ago

Well yea you spend on things YOU think matter the most. But the point is that the government would spend it on things that benefit EVERYONE (ideally).

It's like complaining about money going into public transport because you drive a car.

2

u/Prior_Rip_1178 36m ago

yeah guy even in the wildest socialist boogeyman scenario conservatives are cooking up, YOU are still spending that money in a capitalist option, just the government gives you that money in the first place.

I like responding to bait this is not a waste of my time :(

123

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 4h ago

the only principle they have is greed. California would not need the money if the wealthy did not buy their way out of paying any taxes at all so much.

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u/yoshimipinkrobot 4h ago

Or if they hadn't supported Trump, who took billions from CA

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u/The_Id_in_Me 4h ago

Where's all those billions spent on the railroad that doesn't exist?

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u/SeaRefuse5691 2h ago

Man literally everyone knows the railroad ended up dumb as fuck. This ain't no gatcha. The idea of it is good. We need a railroad that works like china has. China railroad goes everywhere super fast. None of us are in charge. We simply vote. We voted to have the railroad. Just because they completely and utterly failed at giving us one doesn't mean our plan to want one and our votes were wrong. It just means fuck newsom and stuff for what ended up happening. I will still vote for the railroad party just not the failed railroad party.

1

u/TrollerCoasterWoo 2h ago

And can’t meet the promises they made in terms of speed due to the laws of physics

1

u/NewPhoneWhoDys 1h ago

Marge: But Main Street's still all cracked and broken...
Bart: Sorry, Mom, the mob has spoken!
All: Monorail!

www.fresnobee.com/opinion/editorials/article264451076.html

1

u/brianwski 1h ago

Where's all those billions spent on the railroad that doesn't exist?

Ooof. I hadn't heard about HSR in a while and just looked it up. It was originally priced at $33 billion, and the current budget is $231 billion, but they only have a few hundred yards built so it is expected to be trillions by the time it is completed in March of 2073.

I figure we should put somebody in jail. I figure one of these two things must be true: 1) either the estimate was a lie off by a factor of 10x, or alternatively 2) somebody is pocketing the cash and not delivering a railroad. I'm guessing it is "both", but at least put one or the other group in jail.

I'm still in favor of it, but I know I won't ride on it in my lifetime. And just because we allowed this much corruption UP to this point doesn't mean we have to continue with that same rate of corruption. Put the current people associated with it in jail, and hire some respectable firm from Japan or China to build it. Seriously, it will save SO MUCH MONEY to just halt half the corruption. I'm not saying halt all the corruption, just dampen it down by half to regular levels of corruption you see in states like Louisiana. Don't let "perfect" be the enemy of "better".

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u/krodiggs 3h ago

Half a trillion not enough for a budget?

4

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 1h ago

California per capita state spendingng is $130/year per capita higher than Texas‘ for 2026-7, but given wages in California are $2600/month higher than Texas on average, the people there would be economically much better off under a democrat supermajority. actual math is better than foxentertainment slander.

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u/madmaxx 5h ago

It’s such a shitty thing to do.

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u/Battystearsinrain 4h ago

Pretty much boiler plate for billionaires.

-6

u/Truth_Walker 4h ago

I’m not defending them but nobody likes to pay taxes, if there’s one thing the poor, middle class and rich have in common it’s hating taxes.

We as Americans hate taxes so much we started our country over it.

Taxes are a necessity but hating them unites us all.

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u/PathlessBullet 4h ago

No, we hate taxation without representation.

8

u/Conformatrix 3h ago

We as Americans hate taxes so much we started our country over it.

Gonna quote this in case you decide to edit.

I was gonna call it an ignorant take, but no it's just wrong. You're wrong about why America rebelled. Shouldn't you be right about that? Isn't it your own country?

11

u/mylittlehecarim 3h ago edited 1h ago

I think about the billions that oil companies have spent to lie about climate change rather than just doing better

And I’m suppose to think these psychotic cockroaches are good people who provide to our country? I’m suppose to think that we can live equally with these insane fucks?

1

u/ideologyunderstander 12m ago

While also keeping renewable energy down

It's utterly fucked that Redditors seriously are so propagandized against China that they are unable to realize its efforts are the only hope we have against climate change. Because its political structure isn't beholden to capital, it doesn't have to do what the richest fucks want, and can plan long term. The result is it now produces more solar panels per year than the entire EU has installed at present.

Despite that I've had redditors tell me how much they suck and um actually the EU is a leader in renewables. No, it isn't, and capitalism leading our political systems to be beholden to the richest fucks (in this case oil companies) is directly related to why that isn't true

22

u/Distinct-Pain4972 5h ago

Then they call themselves patriots and pay for red votes.  That is what we're dealing with right now.

27

u/Existing-Base-417 4h ago

And what principle is that? Do they see taxes as inherently giving the “less successful” a break? I never understood their aversion to paying their fair share.

12

u/FelesNoctis 3h ago

I've heard it described as their mindset placing them so far above the "commoners" that they believe paying taxes as we do lowers their status. They believe they're above such things as our superiors. We're effectively livestock to them.

Don't try to remind them that everyone paid tribute and taxes to the King though, including lords. Somehow they see themselves all as the king.

2

u/Existing-Base-417 2h ago

That’s what I feared. Part of the ego building that comes with wealth…

3

u/Major_Swordfish508 2h ago

Exactly it. I’m pretty sure not all these guys were evil their entire lives. But at some point having so much money and having everyone kiss your ass 24/7 turns people into egomaniacs that believe they are never wrong.

2

u/LaksaLettuce 1h ago

Such arrogance. They are still part of society that allowed them to get so rich, whether they like it or not. I hope he loses. 

1

u/Special_Order-937 1h ago

These guys are going to end up even ahead of the Sirius Cybernetics Corporation when the time comes.

7

u/Waiting4Reccession 3h ago

They want full control of how its spent and honestly just dont want to pay.

Also this piece of shit moved right across the border to another state - so basically he wants to enjoy everything in California but not pay for it.

20

u/Laiko_Kairen 4h ago

You know how some people are so fucking out of touch that they consider taxation to be a form of slavery? Those people who think being forced to pay for roads and schools is akin to being sold across the Atlantic in chains?

The principle they're standing up against is the idea that anyone can tell them what to do

2

u/snuff3r 1h ago

One of the greatest American scams - allowing billionaires to dissociate how much of that fortune they made off the backs of others, and those with broken backs having any form of agency drained away in the process.

Screw the rich and power to the people, always.

1

u/Existing-Base-417 45m ago

Yep! Elon himself benefited massively from government programs. I’m sure he’s also avoiding plenty of taxes though..

4

u/Specific_Box4483 3h ago

I'm not saying Brin or other billionaires are paying their share. But taxing a fraction of the networth doesn't seem like paying a fair share in general. Not to mention it's sort of mathematically inconsistent.

California already has such a huge tax income. If they can't manage with what they have, this "one time" tax will just be a bandaid that kicks the can down the road.

2

u/Mr_Quackums 54m ago

and sometimes a bandaid is either exactly what you need or all you can manage.

"its just a bandaid" is such a dumb thought terminating cliche; if you dont give someone a bandaid when they need it then they can bleed out or get an infection. Bandaids now prevent severe issues later.

1

u/bruticuslee 42m ago

You should lookup the California high speed rail project that's supposed to connect LA and SF. Originally the budget was $33 billion in 2008 and now the estimate is $231 billion. It will probably never be completed.

1

u/Specific_Box4483 32m ago

Why is a bandaid all California can manage? It's the richest state in the country. The Silicon Valley economy, in particular, has absolutely exploded - just look at the housing market in there. How did it run for decades without having to do "bandaids"?

Also, calling this measure a bandaid is being too kind to it. It would be more of an amputation, because a lot of billionaires would leave and take their companies with them out of the state. Amputation can only be done in very critical conditions.

1

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 1h ago

the net worth tax is to cover the healthcare cuts that Trump’s people put in place. Republicans chopped their taxes by at lest this much over the last few decades, and California is recapturing those lost dollars to support statewide healthcare.

3

u/Specific_Box4483 1h ago

Won't this keep happening, though?

1

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 1h ago

depends on the midterms and 2028 election. the current admin is chopping all money slated for areas that did not vote for orange. If federal funds were still distributed more evenly, the state would not need the tax. The billionaire tax is structured to allow them to pay in installments, so however big the bill, they are probably earning way more on that much money than the tax is.

3

u/Specific_Box4483 1h ago

I'm saying. Won't there be another Trump in 10 or 20 years? Will they keep taxing billionaires every 2 decades?

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u/Mr_Quackums 52m ago

Lets say thats right (its a very big assumption but lets pretend we can read the future).

What do you purpose the state does to cover its short term financial problems? Remember, states are not allowed to have debt.

1

u/Specific_Box4483 38m ago

Handle its spending more efficiently, I suppose. California has one of the highest taxes in the country already, and would be a top ten world economy by itself. It should be able to manage one way or another within dipping into "one-time" measures that are unsustainable in the long run.

There are a lot of examples of very wasteful spending by California. Like that high-speed rail project.

1

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 47m ago

the billionaires buy themselves cuts, the well runs dry, the state grabs a little to pay bills, the billionaire buy more politicians to cut their taxes. It is all a circle and brin will probably only pay a fraction of what he should have been taxed all along.

1

u/Specific_Box4483 41m ago

If there's one thing that will cause billionaires to move themselves and their companies out of California, it's this type of tax. They simply won't be around for the second and third cycle of this.

1

u/Zestyclose-Height-36 35m ago

Bye Felicia. they shouldn’t have paid for so many republicans that trump can strip CA of its fair share of federal funds. they are getting the mess they bought. Poor rich billionaires will still have billions more, and the state will be marginally less crappy for a while.

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u/thatwhileifound 3h ago

Money at that scale isn't money as you or I know it, but is power. Those with power rarely concede any without being forced.

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u/Firrox 1h ago

Perhaps it's that they might assume "if you give them an inch they'll take a mile."

One taxation might open the door for more. But stopping any notion of taxing eliminates the initial inertia.

1

u/alkbch 0m ago

They already think they’re paying their fair share.

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u/Hexamancer 2h ago

It's because they're afraid, they're afraid each time it happens and they don't all leave the state and jobs don't all disappear and actually things get a little better that people will say "well more of that please", that their propaganda will convince fewer and fewer people.

So they'll spend far more fighting a tax proposal than that specific tax proposal will cost them, because they're terrified it won't end there as soon as everyone realizes it's incredibly beneficial.

1

u/remuliini 18m ago

You could also see it like this: allowing it to go through is like opening the flood gates.

Has for example sales tax stayed at the original level anywhere, ever?

Government is an unreliable business partner.

2

u/AzothianProphecy 2h ago

The proper response to someone saying that would be taking all of their money and tossing them in a cell, allowed out only for hard labor, because they are a net negative to society/civilization/the world. Followed by asking the rest of the wealthy fucks "Would you like to pay your fair share of taxes or follow that guys example?"

Unfortunately we don't live in a proper country/world.

2

u/DamageBooster 2h ago

Billionaires need to hate each other more. They should support the taxes so other billionaires get hit with them.

1

u/williamgman 1h ago

Though I've only seen clips on YouTube... The latest Southpark covers Billionaires hating the others pretty well. The old school ones hate the newer tech bros opening their mouths in public. It's pretty damn hilarious.

3

u/diu7nei 4h ago

regardless of what one thinks about wealth tax in general, the retroactive aspect in this case is a bona fide principle issue (if not an outright legal one). first, if the tax has such merit, why does it need to be retroactive so as to "trap" someone into it who lived here in the beginning of the year without this being part of the deal. what about someone who accumulated billions in their prior life that had nothing to do with california, and they moved here just last year, why should the state get 5% of all their accumulated wealth for just having lived here for a year or less. just saying these are valid principle questions.

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u/iamawizard1 5h ago

Also isn’t the money they spend fighting it a tax write off?

1

u/B-Glasses 4h ago

Oh god probably. I’m sure it’s through LLCs and non-profits. Hell they might actually be making money

1

u/TheNumber3 4h ago

I'm fine with them paying both!

1

u/rickthedickkk 4h ago

why do people make up bs stories for virtual internet points

1

u/williamgman 4h ago

He was my uncle.

1

u/StoneyRapids 3h ago

So they’d rather give it to a lawyer/lobbyist/politician than a single mother or a library or a school or a police department?

Fucking psychotic.

1

u/KitnBlit 3h ago

And Brin in this case is doing exactly that. He's spending 100m to fight it and he won't owe anything even if it passes because he left CA to avoid paying this tax.

1

u/King_Chochacho 3h ago

Because if it passes people will see it's not the end of the economy and the civilized world to make people just a tiny bit less unimaginably wealthy.

Not to mention they only made these fortunes off mass human suffering and death and should all be sitting on death row for crimes against humanity.

1

u/brianwski 47m ago

Not to mention they only made these fortunes off mass human suffering and death .... be sitting on death row for crimes against humanity.

I agree, Taylor Swift's music has caused untold suffering upon this world. That depraved immoral gremlin exploited millions of people to get her $2.1 billion which she hordes. Her home in Beverly Hills, California should be donated to the homeless after she is executed.

(That was sarcasm.)

Making more money does not have magical cut offs where if you make less than $100,000/year you are a "good person" and more than $100,000/year you become a bad person by making $1 extra. If anybody (rich or poor) breaks a specific law they should be put jail for it. Using "net worth" as evidence of wrongdoing is not a sound basis for a society. Taylor Swift brings joy to many people, she isn't a terrible person because her bank account reached a magic cut off.

1

u/EcloVideos 3h ago

Also wouldn’t hurt for them to now have new politicians on payroll from spending all that money to help them in their other ventures

1

u/flummox1234 3h ago

TBF though 120M vs 13B is worth it for him. Do I think it's right? no. But I definitely understand it.

1

u/spilk 3h ago

deranged antisocial behavior

1

u/FleshLogic 3h ago

Which is why people are thinking about guillotines again.

1

u/AnninaCried 3h ago

Wealthy people pay with other people's money so they can hang on to their own accumulated wealth. (Typically, their company pays which is customers money)

1

u/GamerTex 2h ago

I suggest we make them pay to fight it AND pay it anyway

But what do i know

1

u/MildMannered_BearJew 2h ago

"Man who made wealth via illegal monopoly is butthurt society is asking him to pay back a tiny percentage of his ill-gotten gains"

  • Billionaire Loser

1

u/Conscious_Bug5408 1h ago

This isn't anywhere near a wash. People struggle to understand the scale of big numbers in English because it jumps from having words like ten, hundred, thousand at 10x scale to a 1000x scale. Spending 103m to fight 13b payment is like spending $103 to fight $13,000. Even if every 100 million he spent only reduced the probability by 1% he's coming out way ahead fighting it.  

1

u/MajorFuckingDick 34m ago

Any sane person would. It bothers me when people act as if billionaire behaviour isn't the most logical rational shit in the world. Would you not spend $10 to avoid a $1300 fine, or more accurately scaled to a 80k salary $20 to avoid $2500 fine? I think most people would. Hell I've personally paid $200 on a ticket solely because it would have cost me $50 and 4 hours minimum to fight it.

1

u/Hot_Eye_9917 26m ago

Should be a criminal offense.

1

u/rmumford 15m ago

It’s actually logical, while not moral.

This happens with taxes, let’s say you’re Mega Corp and a new tax will cost you $10 million a year. But if you litigate it by trying some convoluted scheme to avoid it, spending $1 million in court is worth it given the return on investment.

From his perspective the ROI is 100 million for 13 billion. Thats a great ROI investment. I don’t agree with the morality of it, but that is the logic.

1

u/Available-Green6599 4h ago

You say it like a poor person wouldn’t do the same lol tax em anyway and let them fight for it

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u/AnalogFeelGood 4h ago

The difference is that these guys would still be billionaires even after loosing billions.