U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders aimed for California’s class of tech titans and struck the heart of the Golden State’s luxury residential real estate market in leading a rally for the proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act that calls for a one-time five-percent tax on the net worths of individuals exceeding $1 billion.
The Vermont independent, who identifies as a democratic socialist and generally operates as part of the Democratic Party in the Senate, served up some choice words about California’s billionaires, calling their level of wealth “grotesque” and “outrageous.” He took particular aim at several tech executives, including Meta founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg, citing the 11 Palo Alto homes he’s purchased over more than a decade as proof he can pay his “fair share of taxes.”
Sander’s vitriol came Wednesday evening at The Wiltern Theatre, a green-tinged, Art Deco landmark at Wilshire Boulevard and Western Avenue in the Koreatown district of Los Angeles. The crowd included organizers engaged in gathering the 900,000 or so signatures of registered voters that will be needed to place the tax on the ballot on the November ballot.
The tax would apply to individuals with a net worth of $1 billion are deemed by the state to be residents of California as of Jan. 1, 2026. It would be due in 2027.
Some of California’s most famous and wealthy tech executives are pushing back, including Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who is reportedly leading an effort by a group called Building a Better California to head off the billionaire tax. Brin recently shelled out $42 million for a mansion on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe–which also has shoreline in California– and has offered about $50 million for a Miami Beach home, The Real Deal reported in January.
Sanders waived off fears of an exodus of wealthy from California if the tax passes, calling reports of such concerns as a “disgusting” advertising ploy by those looking to dodge paying their “fair share.”
The senator likened attempts by the wealthy to push back against the proposed tax as following the same playbook used by companies threatening to move overseas if their employees unionize.
“Now, whether they do it or not, I don’t know. I think they lie a lot,” he said.
He also drew a comparison to criticisms that have accompanied the rise of New York Mayor Zohran Mamdani, also a member of the Democratic Socialists of America, or DSA.
“And, by the way, when [Mayor Zohran] Mamdani was running in New York City, that’s what the oligarch says, ‘Oh, [if] Mamdani wins, we’re all fleeing New York,” Sanders told the crowd at the Wiltern. “They didn’t and I doubt that they will flee the great state of California.”
Sanders spent some time criticizing recent actions by the federal government’s Immigration and Customs Enforcement in Minneapolis, but he didn’t stray elsewhere during his roughly half hour on stage, avoiding any indication of where, if at all, he might throw his weight in the city’s mayoral race.
While Sanders endorsed 4th District City Councilmember member Nithya Raman in an upset victory of an incumbent to win her seat 2020, who is backed by the DSA. Sanders has yet to bestow his political blessing in L.A.’s mayoral campaign, where Raman is bidding to unseat incumbent Mayor Karen Bass, with the June primary a first test..
More to come on what real estate thinks of California’s proposed 2026 Billionaire Tax Act.
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