Meanwhile, businessman Tom Steyer, who ran an unsuccessful bid for California governor earlier this year, is one of the few billionaires who has said, external he would vote in favour of the tax. Steyer said that although he believes the way the measure is written is “problematic”, it is necessary to protect vulnerable Californians.
Huang, too, has expressed support of paying the levy.
“I don’t mind paying taxes. The more you make, the more taxes you pay. I’m okay with that,” the Nvidia chief executive said in an interview with the BBC’s news partner in the US, CBS. “I am the ultimate American Dream.”
Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont, a vocal champion against income inequality, has campaigned in support of Prop 40.
While at a Los Angeles rally, Sanders said billionaires “believe, like the monarchs of the 19th century, that they have a God-given right to rule”.
“They have all the wealth; they got all the power, and who the hell do you think you are challenging them? Well, I think on Nov 3 they’re going to learn a very powerful lesson”.
Income inequality in the US is at some of its highest levels, external in over three decades, with the top 1% of households owning nearly 32% of all US wealth in the third quarter of 2025. It is also near historic highs in California.
Economic inequality is a concern among most Californians, with 72% believing that the gap between the rich and poor is widening and a similar share holding that state government should do more to reduce the gap, according to a statewide survey, external from the Public Policy Institute of California.
Trebbi says it is an “anti-elite, anti-system sentiment that is behind a policy” like Prop 40.
“This is really not about Prop 40,” he says. It’s about trying to “re-balance the scale a little bit”.
Leave a Reply