Add The California Post on Google Mark Cuban just schooled California representative Ro Khanna on why the “billionaire tax” is such a bad idea.
It’s a timely lesson as Google’s Eric Schmidt and Sergey Brin can’t seem to agree on how to make the case against the tax, also known as Proposition 40.
In a revealing exchange on X, the billionaire “Shark Tank” tycoon pointed out that if tech entrepreneurs have to hand over 5% of their wealth anytime their startup companies go public, they will all leave California.
US businessman Mark Cuban speaks during a healthcare affordability event in the South Court Auditorium of The White House in Washington, DC, on Monday, May 18, 2026. (AFP) AFP via Getty Images They won’t just leave to avoid paying taxes. They will leave because venture capital funds won’t even invest in their companies if they are California residents.
Why would anyone invest in something that is a guaranteed 5% loss?
Khanna came up with a plan that he thought was bright: If entrepreneurs won’t sell their companies to pay the “billionaire tax,” the government can lend them the money to pay it.
Of course, they’d have to hand the loan right back to the government, and spend several decades paying off that loan, with interest.
But after all — don’t billionaires borrow against their assets all the time, to fund their lifestyles?
There’s a difference between taking out a loan you know you can repay, and being forced to borrow money just to pay taxes.
If these paper billionaires can’t make their payments, the government would have to seize their assets.
The state would suddenly own a bunch of bad debt and failing companies.
That’s a surefire way to tank the economy. And it would kill California’s startup culture.
United States Representative Ro Khanna (Democrat of California) on Monday, November 17, 2025. Ron Sachs – CNP for NY Post Cuban slammed Khanna — who represents Silicon Valley — for joining the socialist mob.
It’s all hypocrisy from Khanna, one of the wealthiest members of Congress, with a net worth in the hundreds of millions.
Khanna is posturing as the champion of the “working class,” ahead of a run for president in 2028.
He is trying to fill the left-wing lane Bernie Sanders occupied when he ran for the Democratic nomination in 2016 and 2020.
But Sanders has been a socialist his whole life. He’s also a hypocrite — buying multiple homes, flying private jets — but at least voters knew what he stood for, theoretically.
Khanna postured as a pro-business progressive from Silicon Valley. Now he’s trashing the people he represents in a bid for power.
Good on Mark Cuban for taking Ro Khanna down. More business leaders need to speak up against Proposition 40, especially while infighting threatens to divide the opposition to it.
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