While some California billionaires are slamming the proposed wealth tax and cutting ties with the state, other wealthy citizens are stepping forward to defend the policy.

Dave Nixon, a former healthcare executive, relocated from Florida to Pasadena, California, in 2022 in search of a community that more closely aligned with his values. He is a member of Patriotic Millionaires, an organization of affluent Americans that advocates for a fairer tax system, livable wages, and equal access to political power.

“I just felt like education, healthcare, all the things I care about that equalize society, were not being paid attention to [in Florida],” Nixon said in an interview with Fortune. “I still think that California does a better job on those things that matter.”

California’s latest proposal to tax extreme wealth, the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, would impose a one-time 5% levy on the net worth of residents with assets of at least $1 billion, a category that currently pays no recurring wealth tax beyond existing income and capital-gains taxes. The measure is projected to raise on the order of $100 billion and would channel roughly 90% of the new revenue into health care programs, with the remainder earmarked for education, food assistance, and administering the tax through a dedicated reserve fund.

Nixon previously wrote in Fortune about his disapproval of wealthy residents threatening to leave high-tax states such as New York and Illinois for lower-tax states like Florida and Texas. He remains skeptical of the claim that raising taxes will prompt a widespread flight of wealthy residents.

“That idea is a myth, an empty threat constantly laid down by millionaires across the country looking for a way to discourage state lawmakers from raising their taxes,” he wrote. “California’s higher taxes on wealthy people like me are exactly what makes it the kind of state I want to live in.”

Many of the state’s more than 200 billionaires have weighed in on the proposed tax policy, with varying opinions. Venture capitalist Peter Thiel and Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin are reportedly preparing to abandon the state for Florida. Other billionaires such, as Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang, said it “never crossed [his] mind” to leave the state because of the tax.

When asked about Google founders Sergey Brin and Larry Page’s recent actions, Nixon said, “It’s sickening and greedy.”

“California has been very good to them and has supported an innovation economy that, for example, the founders of Google have benefited from,” Nixon said. The state has long been home to Big Tech and has incentivized companies to stay and grow through tax credits. In 2025, California signed deals with Google, Adobe, IBM, and Microsoft, to bring AI training into high schools, community colleges, and the California State University system.