{"id":306449,"date":"2026-05-08T19:28:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:28:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/306449\/"},"modified":"2026-05-08T19:28:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-08T19:28:10","slug":"bay-area-tech-billionaire-doubles-down-on-living-in-california-again","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/306449\/","title":{"rendered":"Bay Area tech billionaire doubles down on living in California, again"},"content":{"rendered":"

The Bay Area tech leader of what\u2019s often regarded as the world\u2019s most valuable company doubled down on his dedication to California again this week, brushing off the prospect of paying $8 billion in taxes<\/a> to the state.<\/p>\n

Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang<\/a> said in a recent interview with the nonpartisan think tank Milken Institute that the proposed billionaire tax is \u201cfine\u201d and he \u201cnever once thought about it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIn a way, that\u2019s our way of giving back,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s hardly a new question posed to Huang, who has been unwavering in his support of California<\/a> and its importance to the tech industry. Meanwhile, many of his peers have made efforts to divest from the state to avoid paying the proposed tax. Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin have relocated businesses elsewhere, as has investor and former PayPal CEO Peter Thiel. Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg reportedly bought a massive property<\/a> in Florida.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huang even poked fun at fellow wealthy individuals who take advantage of tax loopholes. When jokingly asked if he would name them, Huang laughed and said \u201cno.\u201d<\/p>\n

When CNBC anchor Becky Quick, who facilitated the conversation, asked Huang<\/a> about the estimated $8 billion he\u2019d owe to the state, he jokingly appeared shocked and said he\u2019d have to do some \u201cfact checking\u201d on the number.<\/p>\n

\u201cI love California, and I prefer lower taxes, but whatever they decide to ask me to pay, I\u2019ll pay,\u201d Huang said.<\/p>\n

Huang kept his answers lighthearted, even making a tongue-in-cheek wish that part of his tax payment would go to something he really cared about. \u201cI would love that they would apply $10,000 of the taxes that I paid to fix that one pothole on 101. \u2026 If they let me, I\u2019ll do it myself,\u201d he said with a laugh.<\/p>\n

The proposed billionaire tax has not yet been formally certified for the ballot, but organizers have recently said they have enough signatures<\/a> to qualify. The tax would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires\u2019 net worth if their primary residence was in California as of Jan. 1, 2026.<\/p>\n

Huang\u2019s comments came in the middle of an hourlong conversation titled \u201cLeading in the Age of AI\u201d at the Santa Monica think tank\u2019s annual Global Conference. In his signature leather jacket, he defended artificial intelligence\u2019s importance, pointing optimistically to its future potential.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Huang moved to California in the late 1980s to work. He then earned a master\u2019s degree at Stanford and has since been a fierce advocate for the state. \u201cWe love the culture that\u2019s here,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bay Area tech leader of what\u2019s often regarded as the world\u2019s most valuable company doubled down on…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":306450,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[7,9,8,3099,1976],"class_list":["post-306449","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-california","tag-california","tag-california-headlines","tag-california-news","tag-sfgcalifornia","tag-sfgtech"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306449","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=306449"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/306449\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/306450"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=306449"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=306449"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=306449"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}