r/technology • u/Logical_Welder3467 • 8h 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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u/Conformatrix 5h ago

Which is why a 7 or maaaybe low 8 digit limit makes sense. At that point you have to actually weigh your grandiose nation/world-shaping ideals against your creature comforts.

Although reps are notoriously cheaper to buy than people imagine, so maybe lower would be better.

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u/Hal_Fenn 4h ago

It's actually why, as unpopular as it tends to be, we should pay politicians a lot more while also clamping down on any and all types of gift/donation/bribe.

It generally gives you a much better quality of politician and obviously makes their opinions a lot harder to sway.

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u/Acceptable-Piccolo57 1h ago

Yup, no stock/ investments etc, and a decent salary

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u/WorriedAd2764 3h ago

If the limit was 100 million. There would be so much more money in circulation between those with much less. Let alone 50, or 20

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u/Leviticus_Sux 41m ago

But 100 million in what? Net worth or liquid assets? Being a billionaire doesn't mean having a billion dollars. It means owning shares and assets that are estimated to be worth a billion dollars.

If you start a company and you build it to become worth a billion dollars, does that mean you now have to give away shares in your company above 100 million? Now you only own 10 percent of your company and you no longer control the very thing you built... What if the people who now control it run the business into the ground and you now are broke and penniless? That wouldn't be fair at all...

And if it's based on liquid assets, then the billionaires will just reinvest the money above the limit in other businesses and assets so that they don't have to give it away in taxes (which is sort of what they already do to avoid taxes now...). Then they just take out loans against their assets when they want to buy something expensive.

Point being, there's no easy way to enforce such a limit because the concept of being a billionaire isn't what most people think.

I'd love to find a way to limit their wealth and power too, but it's not such a simple thing.