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Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and former president of Alphabet, was seated on President Donald Trump's left during a dinner at Mar-a-Lago on October 16, 2026 in Palm Beach, Florida.
(Photo by Eric Lee/Getty Images)
As Millions Struggle to Get By, Plutocrat Working to Kill California Billionaire Tax Dines With Trump
"He’d rather working class kids die because they can’t afford healthcare than pay his fair share in taxes," Sen. Bernie Sanders said of Google co-founder Sergey Brin.
Oct 19, 2026
Billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has spent more than $100 million fighting a proposed wealth tax in California, shared a lavish dinner with billionaire US President Donald Trump over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida as millions of American families struggle to afford groceries, healthcare, and other necessities.
Brin was seated directly to the billionaire president's left during the fundraising dinner, which was hosted by the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. On Trump's right was Greg Brockman, president of the leading artificial intelligence firm OpenAI.
The proposal that Brin is trying to defeat would impose a one-time, 5% tax on California's billionaire residents and use the revenue to offset the damage of unprecedented federal Medicaid cuts, which Trump signed into law last year. The proposal will appear on California's November ballot as Proposition 40.
"When Sergey Brin, the 4th richest man alive, isn’t dining with Trump, what’s he doing? He’s spending $138 million against California’s 5% billionaire wealth tax," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in response to pictures of Brin and the president.
"He’d rather working class kids die because they can’t afford healthcare than pay his fair share in taxes," added Sanders, a vocal proponent of the tax. "Obscene."
Brin, who moved his primary residence from California to Nevada late last year to avoid the potential tax, is the primary funder of Building a Better California, a group that is trying to defeat the proposed levy and sponsoring competing measures.
Earlier this month, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom—who opposes the billionaire wealth tax—endorsed Proposition 42, a measure backed by Building a Better California. If passed, the initiative would cancel out the proposed billionaire tax and prohibit future wealth taxes.
In an op-ed for The Guardian on Monday, US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote that he stands "with the nurses and healthcare workers who put Prop 40 on the ballot."
"Newsom stands with Peter Thiel, Sergey Brin, and Elon Musk, Trump backers who all oppose it," wrote Khanna, who is considering a presidential run in 2028. "If they paid this tax, they would be worth the same as they were on Labor Day of this year. That’s the speed at which their wealth is growing. The tax would raise about $100 billion, 90% of it for healthcare. It would help keep 3 million Californians from losing coverage. Trump’s cuts could cost Medi-Cal more than $30 billion a year, and this tax would help fill that gigantic hole."
"In Trump’s America, working people pay more than they should, while billionaires are so unburdened that they are becoming trillionaires. In the America we seek, billionaires and trillionaires will pay their fair share, while working people will be unburdened," the congressman added. "Will California this November stand with the working class or the oligarchs?"
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Billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has spent more than $100 million fighting a proposed wealth tax in California, shared a lavish dinner with billionaire US President Donald Trump over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida as millions of American families struggle to afford groceries, healthcare, and other necessities.
Brin was seated directly to the billionaire president's left during the fundraising dinner, which was hosted by the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. On Trump's right was Greg Brockman, president of the leading artificial intelligence firm OpenAI.
The proposal that Brin is trying to defeat would impose a one-time, 5% tax on California's billionaire residents and use the revenue to offset the damage of unprecedented federal Medicaid cuts, which Trump signed into law last year. The proposal will appear on California's November ballot as Proposition 40.
"When Sergey Brin, the 4th richest man alive, isn’t dining with Trump, what’s he doing? He’s spending $138 million against California’s 5% billionaire wealth tax," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in response to pictures of Brin and the president.
"He’d rather working class kids die because they can’t afford healthcare than pay his fair share in taxes," added Sanders, a vocal proponent of the tax. "Obscene."
Brin, who moved his primary residence from California to Nevada late last year to avoid the potential tax, is the primary funder of Building a Better California, a group that is trying to defeat the proposed levy and sponsoring competing measures.
Earlier this month, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom—who opposes the billionaire wealth tax—endorsed Proposition 42, a measure backed by Building a Better California. If passed, the initiative would cancel out the proposed billionaire tax and prohibit future wealth taxes.
In an op-ed for The Guardian on Monday, US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote that he stands "with the nurses and healthcare workers who put Prop 40 on the ballot."
"Newsom stands with Peter Thiel, Sergey Brin, and Elon Musk, Trump backers who all oppose it," wrote Khanna, who is considering a presidential run in 2028. "If they paid this tax, they would be worth the same as they were on Labor Day of this year. That’s the speed at which their wealth is growing. The tax would raise about $100 billion, 90% of it for healthcare. It would help keep 3 million Californians from losing coverage. Trump’s cuts could cost Medi-Cal more than $30 billion a year, and this tax would help fill that gigantic hole."
"In Trump’s America, working people pay more than they should, while billionaires are so unburdened that they are becoming trillionaires. In the America we seek, billionaires and trillionaires will pay their fair share, while working people will be unburdened," the congressman added. "Will California this November stand with the working class or the oligarchs?"
Billionaire Google co-founder Sergey Brin, who has spent more than $100 million fighting a proposed wealth tax in California, shared a lavish dinner with billionaire US President Donald Trump over the weekend at his Mar-a-Lago estate in Palm Beach, Florida as millions of American families struggle to afford groceries, healthcare, and other necessities.
Brin was seated directly to the billionaire president's left during the fundraising dinner, which was hosted by the pro-Trump super PAC MAGA Inc. On Trump's right was Greg Brockman, president of the leading artificial intelligence firm OpenAI.
The proposal that Brin is trying to defeat would impose a one-time, 5% tax on California's billionaire residents and use the revenue to offset the damage of unprecedented federal Medicaid cuts, which Trump signed into law last year. The proposal will appear on California's November ballot as Proposition 40.
"When Sergey Brin, the 4th richest man alive, isn’t dining with Trump, what’s he doing? He’s spending $138 million against California’s 5% billionaire wealth tax," Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) wrote in response to pictures of Brin and the president.
"He’d rather working class kids die because they can’t afford healthcare than pay his fair share in taxes," added Sanders, a vocal proponent of the tax. "Obscene."
Brin, who moved his primary residence from California to Nevada late last year to avoid the potential tax, is the primary funder of Building a Better California, a group that is trying to defeat the proposed levy and sponsoring competing measures.
Earlier this month, Democratic California Gov. Gavin Newsom—who opposes the billionaire wealth tax—endorsed Proposition 42, a measure backed by Building a Better California. If passed, the initiative would cancel out the proposed billionaire tax and prohibit future wealth taxes.
In an op-ed for The Guardian on Monday, US Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) wrote that he stands "with the nurses and healthcare workers who put Prop 40 on the ballot."
"Newsom stands with Peter Thiel, Sergey Brin, and Elon Musk, Trump backers who all oppose it," wrote Khanna, who is considering a presidential run in 2028. "If they paid this tax, they would be worth the same as they were on Labor Day of this year. That’s the speed at which their wealth is growing. The tax would raise about $100 billion, 90% of it for healthcare. It would help keep 3 million Californians from losing coverage. Trump’s cuts could cost Medi-Cal more than $30 billion a year, and this tax would help fill that gigantic hole."
"In Trump’s America, working people pay more than they should, while billionaires are so unburdened that they are becoming trillionaires. In the America we seek, billionaires and trillionaires will pay their fair share, while working people will be unburdened," the congressman added. "Will California this November stand with the working class or the oligarchs?"
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