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To mobilize private resources to help San Francisco, Mayor Daniel\u00a0Lurie is enlisting corporate leaders through initiatives like the Partnership for San Francisco and the San Francisco Downtown Development\u00a0Corp.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Yalonda M. James\/S.F. Chronicle<\/p>\n
California has long had a complicated relationship with wealth. The state creates it at a scale unmatched anywhere in the country, driven by industries that have reshaped the global economy. Yet public policy often treats that wealth as something to penalize rather than engage.<\/p>\n
That tension is resurfacing in proposals for a statewide billionaire tax<\/a> and other measures aimed at high earners and large corporations, including CEO taxes in Los Angeles and San Francisco. These policies are often framed as responses to inequality. But they also raise a more fundamental question: What should California expect from the people who benefit most from its economy?<\/p>\n The state\u2019s reliance on wealth creation runs deep. California already has one of the highest tax burdens in the country, and the top 1% accounts for more than 40% of all personal income tax payments<\/a>. That revenue funds public education, healthcare, infrastructure and social services. When high earners relocate or shift investment, the consequences affect budgets, jobs and long-term economic stability.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n That reality matters in a modern economy where wealth and talent are increasingly mobile. Companies can scale globally without deep geographic roots, and individuals can move capital quickly to states with more competitive policies. California should be careful not to make staying punitive.<\/p>\n A state billionaire tax, absent federal action on income inequality, makes little sense. It moves the conversation in the wrong direction.<\/p>\n San Francisco Chronicle Logo<\/p>\n Make us a Preferred Source to get more of our news when you search.<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Add Preferred Source<\/p>\n <\/a><\/p>\n American history offers another model. Andrew Carnegie and John D. Rockefeller helped define a culture in which extraordinary wealth carried expectations beyond accumulation. They competed, in effect, to build libraries, universities, hospitals and museums. Over time, this established a norm: Success was measured by what was built for the public good as much as by net worth.<\/p>\n San Francisco has modern examples as well. E-Loan co-founder Chris Larsen has invested heavily in education, public safety and civic initiatives. Gap Inc. board member Bob Fisher has long supported cultural institutions, including the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art. Both have given substantially to the city of their birth, which helped shape their success.<\/p>\n Article continues below this ad<\/p>\n Of course, billionaires are not a monolith. Some are deeply invested and give from the heart to the communities where they built their fortunes; others remain largely detached. Wealth itself is neither inherently virtuous nor inherently harmful. What matters is whether success creates a broader public benefit.<\/p>\n That question becomes more pressing as modern wealth grows less connected to place. The infrastructure, universities, workforce, public safety systems and civic institutions of cities like San Francisco helped create many of today\u2019s fortunes. When enormous wealth is generated in a community without meaningful reinvestment, it can begin to feel less like success and more like extraction.<\/p>\n That frustration is understandable. But bad tax policy will never create civic responsibility or civic pride. Culture and leadership do. California can foster stronger expectations around civic contribution by creating a modern expectation that extraordinary success should leave behind civic infrastructure that outlasts private fortune.<\/p>\n San Francisco has begun experimenting with this approach. To mobilize private resources, Mayor Daniel Lurie engaged a core group of 39 corporate leaders through initiatives like the Partnership for San Francisco and the San Francisco Downtown Development Corp. These executives will fund revitalization projects and will help develop innovative solutions to some of the city\u2019s challenges. In return, a more vibrant city helps support both their businesses and everyday San Franciscans alike.<\/p>\n