Gavin Newsom comes out swinging against California billionaire tax:

In interviews with Politico and the New York Times published on Monday, [Kimberly Guilfoyle’s ex-husband] described his office’s efforts to kill the proposed billionaire tax and told the Times he would “do what I have to do to protect [rich people’s yacht money]”. As a direct-to-voters ballot initiative, Newsom would not have the power to veto the tax if the proposal passed.

Newsom’s opposition to the ballot measure – which would levy a one-time 5% tax on any residents of the state worth more than $1bn – comes amid an uproar from some of California’s most prominent billionaires. The Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have both moved assets out of state in recent months, while the Palantir founder Peter Thiel donated $3m in December to a political action committee lobbying against the tax.

In interviews this week, Newsom cited billionaires who are shifting away from the state – such as Page and Brin, with whom he has longstanding relationships – as proof that his concerns about the tax deterring industry were vindicated.

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