Alexander Willis
December 28, 2025
RAW STORY
U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) walks ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin October 1, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
A proposed California wealth tax has sent some billionaires scrambling, and on Saturday night, prompted a group of wealthy tech entrepreneurs to begin “openly conspiring” against a Democratic lawmaker who supports it.
Dubbed the California Billionaire Tax Act, the proposed ballot measure, if adopted by voters next year, would impose a 5% tax on the net worth of California billionaires, payable over five years.
News of the proposal led some billionaires – including pro-Trump tech billionaire Peter Thiel – to consider leaving the Golden State, while others, like tech entrepreneurs Martin Casado and Garry Tan, responded with talks of forcing Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) – a strong proponent of the wealth tax – out of office.
“Beyond being totally out of touch with [the moderate] faction of his base, [Khanna has] devolved into an obnoxious jerk,” wrote Casado, a wealthy tech entrepreneur and investor, in a social media post Saturday on X. “At least that makes voting him the f--- out all the more gratifying.”
Tan, a wealthy venture capitalist and founder of the California venture capital fund Initialized Capital, responded to Casado’s rant with a simple message: “time to primary him,” he wrote on X.
“Count me in,” Casado responded. “Happy to be involved at any level.”
Political commentator Krystal Ball, former Democratic congressional candidate, former MSNBC reporter and current host of “Breaking Points,” lashed out Sunday at both Casado and Tan for publicly discussing the use of their wealth and influence to shape an election’s outcome.
December 28, 2025
RAW STORY
U.S. Representative Ro Khanna (D-CA) walks ahead of a vote in the U.S. House of Representatives on a stopgap spending bill to avert a partial government shutdown that would otherwise begin October 1, on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. U.S., September 19, 2025. REUTERS/Kent Nishimura
A proposed California wealth tax has sent some billionaires scrambling, and on Saturday night, prompted a group of wealthy tech entrepreneurs to begin “openly conspiring” against a Democratic lawmaker who supports it.
Dubbed the California Billionaire Tax Act, the proposed ballot measure, if adopted by voters next year, would impose a 5% tax on the net worth of California billionaires, payable over five years.
News of the proposal led some billionaires – including pro-Trump tech billionaire Peter Thiel – to consider leaving the Golden State, while others, like tech entrepreneurs Martin Casado and Garry Tan, responded with talks of forcing Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) – a strong proponent of the wealth tax – out of office.
“Beyond being totally out of touch with [the moderate] faction of his base, [Khanna has] devolved into an obnoxious jerk,” wrote Casado, a wealthy tech entrepreneur and investor, in a social media post Saturday on X. “At least that makes voting him the f--- out all the more gratifying.”
Tan, a wealthy venture capitalist and founder of the California venture capital fund Initialized Capital, responded to Casado’s rant with a simple message: “time to primary him,” he wrote on X.
“Count me in,” Casado responded. “Happy to be involved at any level.”
Political commentator Krystal Ball, former Democratic congressional candidate, former MSNBC reporter and current host of “Breaking Points,” lashed out Sunday at both Casado and Tan for publicly discussing the use of their wealth and influence to shape an election’s outcome.
“Tech oligarchs are now openly conspiring against Ro Khanna because he dared to back a modest wealth tax,” Ball wrote in a social media post on X.
Both Casado and Tan have made or shared several posts condemning the proposed wealth tax, with Tan writing in a separate post that he believed “corruption” should be targeted before increasing taxes on the wealthy.
“I would go say corruption must be solved before wealth taxes,” Tan wrote in a social media post Saturday. “When will we have a strong governor in Sacramento who brings the true anti-corruption fire to all of decrepit nonprofit rot and death of state capacity? Start with anti-corruption.”
Tan’s net worth is estimated to be around $300 million, and while Casado’s net worth has not been publicly disclosed, he’s presumed to be wealthy following the sale of the tech company he founded, Nicira, for $1.26 billion in 2012.
Both Casado and Tan have made or shared several posts condemning the proposed wealth tax, with Tan writing in a separate post that he believed “corruption” should be targeted before increasing taxes on the wealthy.
“I would go say corruption must be solved before wealth taxes,” Tan wrote in a social media post Saturday. “When will we have a strong governor in Sacramento who brings the true anti-corruption fire to all of decrepit nonprofit rot and death of state capacity? Start with anti-corruption.”
Tan’s net worth is estimated to be around $300 million, and while Casado’s net worth has not been publicly disclosed, he’s presumed to be wealthy following the sale of the tech company he founded, Nicira, for $1.26 billion in 2012.
Khanna Hits Back as Silicon Valley Oligarchs Threaten Primary Challenge Over California Billionaires Tax
“We cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where... healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,” the San Francisco lawmaker said.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks during a news conference outside the US Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Stephen Prager
Dec 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
US Rep. Ro Khanna defended California’s proposed tax on extreme wealth Saturday after a pair of prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists threatened to launch a primary bid for his California House seat.
The proposal, which advocates are gathering signatures to place on the ballot in 2026, would impose a one-time 5% tax on those with net worths over $1 billion to recoup about $90 billion in Medicaid funds stripped from the state by this year’s Republican budget law. The roughly 200 billionaires affected would have five years to pay the tax.
Gavin Newsom Wants a ‘Big Tent Party,’ But Opposes Wealth Tax Supported by Large Majority of Americans
While higher taxes on the superrich are overwhelmingly popular with Americans, the proposal has rankled many of California’s wealthiest residents, as well as California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said earlier this month that he’s “adamantly” against the measure.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that two of the valley’s biggest powerbrokers—venture capitalist and top Trump administration ally Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page—were threatening to reduce their ties to California in response to the tax proposal.
This has been a common refrain from elites faced with proposed tax increases, though data suggests they rarely follow through on their threats to bail on cities and states, even when those hikes are implemented. Meanwhile, the American Prospect has pointed out that the one-time tax would still apply to those who moved out of the Golden State.
Khanna (D-Calif.), who is both a member of the House’s progressive faction and a longtime darling of the tech sector, has increasingly sparred with industry leaders in recent years over their reactionary stances on labor rights, regulation, and taxation.
In a post on X, the congressman reacted with derision at the threats of billionaire flight: “Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for five years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts. I echo what [former President Franklin D. Roosevelt] said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, ‘I will miss them very much.’”
Casado, who donated to Khanna’s 2024 reelection campaign according to OpenSecrets, complained that “Ro has done a speed run, alienating every moderate I know who has supported him, including myself.”
“Beyond being totally out of touch with [the moderate] faction of his base, he’s devolved into an obnoxious jerk,” Casado continued. “At least that makes voting him the fuck out all the more gratifying.”
Casado’s post received a reply from another former Khanna donor, Garry Tan, the CEO of the tech startup accelerator Y Combinator.
“Time to primary him,” Tan said of Khanna.
Tan, a self-described centrist Democrat, has never run for office before. But he is notorious for his social media tirades against local progressives in San Francisco and was one of the top financial backers of the corporate-led push to oust the city’s liberal former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in 2022.
Casado replied: “Count me in. Happy to be involved at any level.”
Progressive commentator Krystal Ball marveled that “Tech oligarchs are now openly conspiring against Ro Khanna because he dared to back a modest wealth tax.”
So far, neither Casado nor Tan has hinted at any concrete plans to challenge Khanna in 2026. If they did, defeating him would likely be a tall order—since his sophomore election in 2018, a primary challenger has never come within 30 points of unseating him.
But Khanna still felt the need to respond to the brooding tech royals. He noted that he has “supported a modest wealth tax since the day I ran in 2016,” which prompted another angry retort from Casado, who accused the congressman of “antagonizing the people who made your district the amazing place it is” with a tax on billionaires.
Khanna hit back at his critics with a lengthy defense of not just the wealth tax, but his conception of what he calls “pro-innovation progressivism.”
“My district is $18 trillion, nearly one-third of the US stock market in a 50-mile radius. We have five companies with a market cap over $1 trillion,” Khanna said. “If I can stand up for a billionaire tax, this is not a hard position for 434 other [House] members or 100 senators.”
“The seminal innovation in tech is done by thousands, often with public funds,” Khanna continued. “Yes, we need entrepreneurs to commercialize disruptive innovation... But the idea that they would not start companies to make billions, or take advantage of an innovation cluster, if there is a 1-2% tax on their staggering wealth defies common sense and economic theory.”
“We cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where 70% of Americans believe the American dream is dead and healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,” he concluded. “What will stifle American innovation, what will make us fall behind China, is if we see further political dysfunction and social unrest, if we fail to cultivate the talent in every American and in every city and town... So, yes, a billionaire tax is good for American innovation, which depends on a strong and thriving American democracy.”
“We cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where... healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,” the San Francisco lawmaker said.
U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna (D-CA) speaks during a news conference outside the US Capitol on November 18, 2025 in Washington, DC.
(Photo by Heather Diehl/Getty Images)
Stephen Prager
Dec 28, 2025
COMMON DREAMS
US Rep. Ro Khanna defended California’s proposed tax on extreme wealth Saturday after a pair of prominent Silicon Valley venture capitalists threatened to launch a primary bid for his California House seat.
The proposal, which advocates are gathering signatures to place on the ballot in 2026, would impose a one-time 5% tax on those with net worths over $1 billion to recoup about $90 billion in Medicaid funds stripped from the state by this year’s Republican budget law. The roughly 200 billionaires affected would have five years to pay the tax.
Gavin Newsom Wants a ‘Big Tent Party,’ But Opposes Wealth Tax Supported by Large Majority of Americans
While higher taxes on the superrich are overwhelmingly popular with Americans, the proposal has rankled many of California’s wealthiest residents, as well as California’s Democratic Gov. Gavin Newsom, who said earlier this month that he’s “adamantly” against the measure.
On Friday, the New York Times reported that two of the valley’s biggest powerbrokers—venture capitalist and top Trump administration ally Peter Thiel and Google co-founder Larry Page—were threatening to reduce their ties to California in response to the tax proposal.
This has been a common refrain from elites faced with proposed tax increases, though data suggests they rarely follow through on their threats to bail on cities and states, even when those hikes are implemented. Meanwhile, the American Prospect has pointed out that the one-time tax would still apply to those who moved out of the Golden State.
Khanna (D-Calif.), who is both a member of the House’s progressive faction and a longtime darling of the tech sector, has increasingly sparred with industry leaders in recent years over their reactionary stances on labor rights, regulation, and taxation.
In a post on X, the congressman reacted with derision at the threats of billionaire flight: “Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for five years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts. I echo what [former President Franklin D. Roosevelt] said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, ‘I will miss them very much.’”
Casado, who donated to Khanna’s 2024 reelection campaign according to OpenSecrets, complained that “Ro has done a speed run, alienating every moderate I know who has supported him, including myself.”
“Beyond being totally out of touch with [the moderate] faction of his base, he’s devolved into an obnoxious jerk,” Casado continued. “At least that makes voting him the fuck out all the more gratifying.”
Casado’s post received a reply from another former Khanna donor, Garry Tan, the CEO of the tech startup accelerator Y Combinator.
“Time to primary him,” Tan said of Khanna.
Tan, a self-described centrist Democrat, has never run for office before. But he is notorious for his social media tirades against local progressives in San Francisco and was one of the top financial backers of the corporate-led push to oust the city’s liberal former district attorney, Chesa Boudin, in 2022.
Casado replied: “Count me in. Happy to be involved at any level.”
Progressive commentator Krystal Ball marveled that “Tech oligarchs are now openly conspiring against Ro Khanna because he dared to back a modest wealth tax.”
So far, neither Casado nor Tan has hinted at any concrete plans to challenge Khanna in 2026. If they did, defeating him would likely be a tall order—since his sophomore election in 2018, a primary challenger has never come within 30 points of unseating him.
But Khanna still felt the need to respond to the brooding tech royals. He noted that he has “supported a modest wealth tax since the day I ran in 2016,” which prompted another angry retort from Casado, who accused the congressman of “antagonizing the people who made your district the amazing place it is” with a tax on billionaires.
Khanna hit back at his critics with a lengthy defense of not just the wealth tax, but his conception of what he calls “pro-innovation progressivism.”
“My district is $18 trillion, nearly one-third of the US stock market in a 50-mile radius. We have five companies with a market cap over $1 trillion,” Khanna said. “If I can stand up for a billionaire tax, this is not a hard position for 434 other [House] members or 100 senators.”
“The seminal innovation in tech is done by thousands, often with public funds,” Khanna continued. “Yes, we need entrepreneurs to commercialize disruptive innovation... But the idea that they would not start companies to make billions, or take advantage of an innovation cluster, if there is a 1-2% tax on their staggering wealth defies common sense and economic theory.”
“We cannot have a nation with extreme concentration of wealth in a few places, but where 70% of Americans believe the American dream is dead and healthcare, childcare, housing, education is unaffordable,” he concluded. “What will stifle American innovation, what will make us fall behind China, is if we see further political dysfunction and social unrest, if we fail to cultivate the talent in every American and in every city and town... So, yes, a billionaire tax is good for American innovation, which depends on a strong and thriving American democracy.”
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