Huang Welcomes Potential $8 Billion California Billionaire Tax

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang said he would welcome paying as much as $8 billion in additional taxes if California’s proposed billionaire levy becomes law. “Nothing would give me more joy” than paying more, he told CBS News in an interview published September 20.

Huang added that taxes were not what worried him: “I’m just afraid of being poor.” CBS cited the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which estimated his fortune at $182 billion.

The proposal, Proposition 40, would impose a one-time tax equal to 5% of the net worth of people who were California residents on January 1, 2026, and worth at least $1 billion. The state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office says payment would be due in 2027, with an option to spread it over five years for an additional cost.

California voters are scheduled to decide the measure on November 3. If approved, 90% of the proceeds would go to public health care, with the rest directed to education, food assistance and administration, according to the Legislative Analyst’s Office.

Huang’s estimate of an $8 billion bill reflects the scale of the proposed levy, but the actual amount would depend on how the state values wealth and the final tax rules. The Legislative Analyst’s Office says revenue is difficult to predict, in part because much billionaire wealth is tied to changing stock prices.

The measure has drawn resistance from some wealthy Californians and business groups, who warn that a tax on wealth could prompt people to leave and reduce other state tax receipts. The state analyst says any resulting decline in income-tax revenue could be less than $1 billion a year.

Huang’s response contrasts with that opposition, but it does not settle the policy debate or guarantee the measure’s passage. The November vote will test whether Californians support a one-time levy on billionaires to fund health care and other services.