Upset Palmer Luckey is not leaving California over 'Billionaire tax'

Palmer Luckey, founder of Oculus and Anduril Industries.

Palmer Luckey is not joining billionaires leaving or planning to leave California over the proposed billionaire wealth tax. Founder of Anduril Industries, one of America's biggest defence technology companies, has made it clear that he is very much staying in the state, Wealth Tax or no Wealth Tax.

Speaking at an invite-only press conference, the 34-year-old founder made it clear that while he opposes the contentious ballot initiative, he has no intention of packing his bags. His remarks first appeared in TechCrunch.“I think that this tax act, if you can call it a tax, is going to cause a lot of problems. It’s causing a lot of people to run who I don’t want to be running,” Luckey said. “As of right now, though, I’m not running.

I am staying. I think California is something special. I want to fight for California.”Luckey, who grew up in Long Beach, entered California's ultra-wealthy tier at age 21 after selling his Virtual Reality company Oculus VR to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014. His current venture, defense technology company Anduril, is headquartered in Costa Mesa. Anduril was recently valued at $61 billion.Despite concerns that partner companies and peer executives are reconsidering their California footprint, Luckey signaled that his fight will likely move to the courts if voters approve the measure.

“I’m planning on staying in California. I’m going to keep fighting it,” Luckey said. “I’m hoping that this doesn’t pass. I’m hoping if it does pass, that there are legal challenges.”

Why Palmer Luckey is against the proposed Wealth tax

Luckey criticized the backing behind the measure, pointing to its primary sponsor, an affiliate of the United Healthcare Workers union, alleging the group is seeking revenue "for their uses." Proponents of the initiative maintain that the generated funds are earmarked for vital public services, including education, food assistance, and Medi-Cal, the state’s healthcare program for low-income residents.The proposed ballot measure seeks to levy an annual tax on the net worth of California’s wealthiest residents. Luckey also said he was concerned that the proposed wealth tax could penalize tech leaders with super-voting shares, which founders often use to retain control of their companies after raising money. Luckey said that the possibility of taxing voting shares was the “real problem” with the tax.“That is not a tax on ownership. It is a tax on control,” Luckey said, calling the mechanism “truly unprecedented” and warning that it effectively amounts to a “post facto seize [of] people’s past and future wealth.”As per Forbes estimates, Luckey’s net worth stands at $5.9 billion. During the press conference, Luckey estimated he could owe up to 5%, or $3 billion, based on his super-voting shares in the company.