Billionaires spent nearly $400 million to sink California’s wealth tax — and the tax-the-rich side won all 3 income tax measures on the ballot

California's Proposition 40, a proposal to impose a one-time 5% tax on the net worth of the state's roughly 200 billionaires, was voted down by voters in the 2026 midterm elections. The billionaire-backed measure, championed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin among others, failed to garner the necessary support from California's electorate. Despite its defeat, economist Emmanuel Saez, who helped design the initiative, lamented the outcome, stating: "Today oligarchy has won."

While Proposition 40 faltered, recent data suggests that voters across the nation supporting the idea of taxing the rich. In state elections, three income tax measures featuring a boost to income taxes on the rich all emerged victorious. Washington state approved a measure preserving its new 9.9% income tax on household income above $1 million, while Colorado voters rejected Proposition 136, which would have capped the state's income tax rate at 4.4%.

Meanwhile, California's voters approved Proposition 3, which makes permanent the income tax rates enacted in 2012 for the state's highest earners, set to expire in 2031.