California’s latest attempt to tax extreme wealth has triggered a remarkably fast response from the people it targets. Within days of a new “billionaire tax” proposal surfacing, ultra-rich residents began shifting homes, residency and capital toward Florida, turning Miami into the most visible winner of this high-stakes policy gamble. The result is a vivid split-screen: a state that once symbolized the American dream watching its richest residents decamp, while a coastal rival markets itself as a tax haven with sunshine and a startup pipeline.
At the center of the storm is a ballot initiative that would reach into the balance sheets of the state’s wealthiest residents, even if they leave. The backlash has been swift, with billionaires, wealth managers and real estate brokers all describing a scramble to get out of California and into Florida within a single week.
How California’s Billionaire Tax Act lit the fuse
The trigger for the exodus is a proposed statewide ballot initiative known as the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, formally labeled Initiative No. 25-0024. The measure would impose an annual levy on residents whose net worth exceeds a defined threshold, targeting fortunes rather than just income. Reporting on the proposal notes that it is being pushed with support from the Service Employees International Union, United, and that while it has not yet qualified for the November ballot, it is already reshaping behavior among the ultra-wealthy. The initiative is designed to reach people who are domiciled in California, a state that already has some of the highest income tax rates in the country.
Analysts who have reviewed the text say the structure is unusually aggressive. One detailed breakdown explains that How the California billionaire tax would work is straightforward in concept but complex in practice: under the proposal, any resident whose net worth exceeds a specified level would face a new annual charge, with the state projecting billions in one-time revenue. Another analysis notes that Billionaire Tax Act would apply to net worth as of January 1, 2026, and that the tax would be due in 2027, with taxpayers allowed to spread payments over five years, plus additional costs. For billionaires, that combination of a valuation snapshot, multi-year payment schedule and potential reach beyond state borders has turned a theoretical policy debate into an immediate financial emergency.
“Within seven days”: the billionaire scramble out of the Golden State
Real estate agents and wealth advisers describe a strikingly compressed timeline once the proposal became widely known. One account of the early fallout reports that California billionaires flocked to Florida “within seven days” of grasping the implications of the looming wealth tax, with some chartering private jets and dispatching lawyers to lock in new residency. Another report, citing conversations with brokers, says that as California’s proposed “billionaire tax” gained traction, phones lit up with clients asking how fast they could move. The sense among advisers is that the tax is not a distant possibility but a live threat that requires immediate action…