Read the letter celebrity lawyer Alex Spiro wrote to Gavin Newsom, warning that his clients will 'permanently relocate' if California wealth tax passes
NEWS | 30 December 2025
A proposed billionaire tax in California has the wealthy threatening to flee, according to a letter written by power lawyer Alex Spiro to Gov. Gavin Newsom. In a December 11 letter that was obtained by Business Insider, Spiro lays out his opposition to the proposed tax on behalf of his clients, whom he calls "California residents who would be subject to the proposed Billionaire Tax Act." "It will trigger an exodus of capital and innovation from California," Spiro wrote. "Our clients have made clear they will permanently relocate if subjected to this tax." The measure proposes that California residents with assets exceeding $1 billion be subject to a one-time 5% tax on the value of their assets. If the proposal receives enough signatures, it will appear on the state ballot in November 2026. If passed, it would apply retroactively to all California residents as of January 1, 2026. While Newsom has said he is against the tax and would "fight" it, he would not have the ability to veto it if it were to pass as a ballot measure. Several wealthy Californians, including venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Google cofounder Larry Page, have considered shrinking their presence in California, according to a New York Times report. Representatives for Page and Thiel did not respond to Business Insider when asked if they were represented by Spiro. Over the weekend, billionaire Palmer Luckey took to X to voice his opposition to the measure. "I made my money from my first company, paid hundreds of millions of dollars in taxes on it," the Anduril cofounder wrote. "Now me and my cofounders have to somehow come up with billions of dollars in cash." While it's not clear which clients the lawyer was referencing in his letter to Newsom, Spiro's client roster in the past has included billionaires and A-listers. He has previously represented Kim Kardashian, Jay-Z, and Elon Musk. Read the full letter below:
Author: Madeline Berg. Jack Newsham.
Source