Nvidias Jensen Huang: no problem with California billionaire tax

Jensen Huang, CEO of the tech behemoth Nvidia and the eighth-richest man in the world, says he is “perfectly fine” with a grassroots push in California to impose a one-time wealth tax on the state’s billionaire residents.

In an interview withBloomberg on Tuesday, Huang said: “We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes, I guess, they would like to apply, so be it”—a nonchalant response that diverges from thehysteriaexpressed by other members of his class in response to theproposed ballot initiative.

“It never crossed my mind once,” Huang said of the tax proposal.

If the proposed 5% levy on billionaire wealth makes it onto the November ballot and California voters approve it, Huang will face an estimated $8 billion tax bill – a tiny slice of his$165 billion net worth. Those subject to the tax would have the option of paying the full amount owed all at once or over a period of five years.

“’Who cares?’ is absolutely the appropriate reaction,”saidMatt Bruenig, founder of the People’s Policy Project, a left-wing think tank. “It means nothing to him. David Sacks types look like the biggest babies in the world.”

Bruenig was referring to theWhite Housecryptocurrency czar, wholeft California for Texasat the end of 2025 in an apparent effort to avoid the possible billionaire tax, which would apply to anyone living in California as of January 1, 2026.

“As a response tosocialism, Miami will replace NYC as the finance capital and Austin will replace SF as the tech capital,” Sacksdeclaredin asocial mediapost last week.

The proposed one-time tax on California’s roughly 200 billionaires would raise an estimated $100 billion in revenue, funds that would be set aside for the state’shealth caresystem, food assistance and education.

Organizers are pursuing the tax in direct response to unprecedentedMedicaidcuts enacted by US PresidentDonald Trumpand the Republican-controlled Congress over the summer.

Suzanne Jimenez, chief of staff of Service Employees International Union-United HealthcareWorkersWest and the lead sponsor of the ballot initiative, welcomed Huang’s response to the proposed tax in a statement late Tuesday.

“We agree withJensen Huangthat California has a tremendous talent pool of workers uniquely qualified to continue moving many industries forward, including within the tech sector and beyond,” said Jimenez. “This initiative will ensure the $100 billion healthcare funding crisis created by [the Trump-GOP legislation] in July is fixed, so that all of those workers can access emergency rooms and vital healthcare in California.”

“Frontline caregivers are glad to hear that, much like the overwhelming majority of billionaires, Mr. Huang will not be uprooting his life or business to make an ideological point over a 1% per year fix to a problem that Congress created last July – and that California will unite to solve this November,” Jimenez added.

Originally published by Common Dreams, this article is republished under a Creative Commons license.