Luckey Says He'll Stay in California Despite Billionaire Wealth Tax, Warns of $3 Billion Bill

Defense tech billionaire Palmer Luckey said Monday he will remain in California and fight a proposed billionaire wealth tax, despite pressure from peers to leave the state. Luckey, founder of Costa Mesa-based Anduril, estimated he could owe roughly $3 billion — about 5% of the company's $61 billion valuation — on that asset alone under the measure. Luckey said the tax would target unrealized and illiquid assets, with penalties as high as 40%, and criticized a provision that could tax founders on voting control rather than economic ownership. He said super-voting shares preserve employee interests as staff sell equity, and warned the levy is "a tax on control," not ownership. The measure's sponsors say proceeds would fund health care, education and food assistance, including Medi-Cal. Luckey said other billionaires have urged him to show "solidarity" by leaving but that he still believes California's problems can be fixed.