California could also be shedding two of the state’s most famed residents and beneficiant political donors.
Filmmaker Steven Spielberg lately moved to New York and Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg is eyeing buying a brand new property in Florida, stirring hypothesis about whether or not their selections are tied to a proposed new tax on California billionaires to fund healthcare for the state’s most weak residents.
Although a handful of distinguished conservatives who bolted out of California noisily blamed their departure on the controversial wealth tax measure, in addition to the state’s liberal methods and what they describe as cumbersome enterprise laws, neither Zuckerberg nor Spielberg has given any indication that the tax proposal is the explanation for his or her strikes.
A spokesperson for Spielberg, who has owned properties on each the East and West coasts since at the least the mid-Nineties, mentioned the only motivation for Spielberg and his spouse, actor Kate Capshaw, decamping to Manhattan was to be close to household.
“Steven’s move to the East Coast is both long-planned and driven purely by his and Kate Capshaw’s desire to be closer to their New York based children and grandchildren,” mentioned Terry Press, a spokesperson for the prodigious filmmaker. She declined to reply questions on his place on the proposed poll measure.
Director Steven Spielberg presents president Bill Clinton with the Ambassadors Humanity award on the fifth Annual Ambassadors for Humanity Dinner Honoring former President Bill Clinton to assist the Survivors of the Shoah Visual History Foundation held on the Amblin theatre Universal Studios on February 17, 2005 in Los Angeles, California.
(Frazer Harrison / Getty Images)
On Jan. 1, Spielberg and Capshaw formally grew to become residents of New York City, settling within the historic San Remo co-op in Central Park West. The storied constructing is among the many most unique in Manhattan, having been residence to Bono, Mick Jagger, Warren Beatty, Tiger Woods and plenty of different celebrities. On the identical day, Spielberg’s Amblin Entertainment opened an workplace in New York City.
Zuckerberg and his spouse, pediatrician Priscilla Chan, are contemplating shopping for a $200-million waterfront mansion in South Florida, the Wall Street Journal first reported this month. The property is situated in Miami’s Indian Creek, a gated barrier island that’s an alcove of the rich and the influential, together with Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Trump’s daughter Ivanka and her husband, Jared Kushner.
Representatives for Zuckerberg declined to remark.
The billionaires’ strikes raised eyebrows as a result of they happen as supporters of the proposed 5% one-time tax on the belongings of California billionaires and trusts are gathering signatures to qualify the initiative for the November poll. Led by the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, they have to collect the signatures of practically 875,000 registered voters and submit them to county elections officers by June 24.
If permitted, the tax would increase roughly $100 billion that might largely pay for healthcare providers, in addition to some education schemes. Critics say it might drive the rich and their corporations out of the state. On Dec. 31, enterprise capitalist David Sacks introduced that he was opening an workplace in Austin, Texas, the identical day PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel publicized that his agency had opened a brand new workplace in Miami.
The proposed poll measure, if it qualifies for the poll and is permitted by voters, would apply to Californians who’re residents of the state as of 2026. But residency requirements are murky. Among the elements thought of by the state’s Franchise Tax Board are the place somebody is registered to vote, the situation of their principal residence, how a lot time they spend in California, the place their driver’s license was issued and their vehicles registered, the place their partner and youngsters reside, the situation of their medical doctors, dentists, accountants and attorneys, and their “social ties,” similar to the positioning of their home of worship or nation membership.
It’s unclear whether or not the proposal will qualify for the November poll, and if it does, whether or not voters will approve it. However, a mass exodus of a quantity of the state’s billionaires — greater than 200 folks — would have a notable impact on state income, regardless. The state’s price range volatility is attributable to its heavy reliance on taxes paid by the state’s wealthiest residents, together with from levies on capital features and stock-based compensation.
“The highest-income Californians pay the largest share of the state’s personal income tax,” in keeping with Gov. Gavin Newsom’s 2026-27 price range abstract that was revealed in January. “The significant share of personal income taxes — by far the state’s largest General Fund revenue source — paid by a small percentage of taxpayers increases the difficulty of forecasting personal income tax revenue.”
This reliance on rich Californians is among the many causes the proposed billionaires tax has created a schism amongst Democrats and is a supply of discord in the 2026 governor’s race to interchange Newsom, who can not search one other time period and is weighing a presidential bid. He opposes the proposal; Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT.) campaigned for it Wednesday night on the Wiltern in Los Angeles.
“I am not only supportive of what they’re trying to do in California, but we’re going to introduce a wealth tax for the whole country. We have got to deal with the greed, the extraordinary greed, of the billionaire class,” Sanders advised reporters Feb. 11.
Zuckerberg and Spielberg are each prolific political donors, although it’s troublesome to completely account for his or her contributions to candidates, campaigns and different entities as a result of of how they or their associates donate to them in addition to the intricacies of marketing campaign finance reporting.
Spielberg, 79, a Hollywood legend, is price greater than $7 billion, in keeping with Forbes. He and his spouse have donated nearly universally to Democratic candidates and causes, in keeping with Open Secrets, a nonprofit, nonpartisan tracker of federal marketing campaign contributions, and the California secretary of state’s workplace.
The prolific filmmaker, who gained popularity of films similar to “Schindler’s List,” “Jaws,” “Jurassic Park” and the “Indiana Jones” trilogy, was born in Ohio and lived together with his household in a number of states earlier than shifting to California. He attended Cal State Long Beach however dropped out after Universal Studios gave him a contract to direct tv exhibits.
Zuckerberg, 41, launched Facebook whereas in faculty and is price greater than $219 billion, making him among the many world’s richest folks, in keeping with Forbes.
His largest private federal political donation seems to be $1 million to FWD.us, a bunch targeted on prison justice and immigration reform nationwide, in keeping with Open Secrets.
Zuckerberg, who’s at the moment a registered Democrat in Santa Clara County, has donated to politicians throughout the partisan spectrum, together with Democrats similar to former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and present Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer to Republicans similar to President Trump’s Secretary of State Marco Rubio when he ran for the White House and Chris Christie throughout his New Jersey gubernatorial marketing campaign.
Both males’s private donations don’t embrace their different results on marketing campaign funds — Spielberg has helped numerous Democratic politicians increase cash in Hollywood; Zuckerberg’s firm has made different contributions. Meta — the guardian firm of Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp — donated $1 million to Trump’s inauguration committee in December 2024. Zuckerberg later attended the president’s swearing in on the U.S. Capitol Rotunda.
Zuckerberg, born in White Plains, N.Y., created an early prototype of Facebook whereas at Harvard University and dropped out to maneuver to Silicon Valley to finish the social media platform, as depicted within the award-winning movie “The Social Network.”
He nonetheless owns a number of properties in California and elsewhere, together with a controversial, large compound on Kauai that features two mansions, dozens of bedrooms, a number of different buildings and leisure areas — and an underground bunker that includes a metallic door full of concrete, in keeping with a 2023 investigation by Wired. The price of land acquisition and development reportedly has topped $300 million.
Meta relies in Menlo Park, Calif., although it has been integrated in Delaware since Facebook’s founding in 2004.
Times employees author Queenie Wong contributed to this report.
