Renowned venture capitalist Vinod Khosla has accused Rep. Ro Khanna (D-Calif.) of advocating for a “commie” tax that might drive away a sizable portion of California’s wealthiest citizens and possibly permanently harm the state’s tax base.
Khosla Criticizes Khanna’s Tax Push
In a recent post on X, Khosla alleged that Khanna’s backing of the proposed tax has already led to the departure of half of the state’s top $2 trillion in wealth. He warned that if the tax is approved, it would permanently reduce tax revenue from those individuals and could cause lasting damage to California’s tax base.
The Indian-American billionaire entrepreneur, who was listed among the top Silicon Valley supporters and donors for Ro Khanna’s early congressional bids, warned that non-billionaires are also planning to leave out of fear of future taxes, calling Rep. Ro Khanna’s actions “dumb,” driven by personal ambition, and permanently damaging to the state.
Khosla made the post in response to a message by Garry Tan, CEO of Y Combinator, who warned that the proposed “billionaire tax” — which would levy up to 5% on California residents with a net worth exceeding $1 billion and impose a one-time $1 billion tax on those with at least $20 billion in assets as of Jan. 1 — could kill startups in California by creating extreme uncertainty, driving people out of the state before their companies succeed and discouraging others from launching businesses there.
Tech Leaders Weigh In
Khosla’s comments sparked a debate among other tech industry figures.
White House AI and crypto czar David Sacks, a well-known investor, responded to Khosla’s post with a jab at Khanna, saying Khanna may be ambitious but not foolish. Sacks questioned why Khanna would see political benefit in backing asset seizures, adding that he believes the Democratic Party is moving in that direction.
Whereas Sam Bahreini, founder and CEO of Konstellate, a New York-based AI-powered key opinion leader intelligence platform for the pharmaceutical industry, called out Khosla and others for their initial support of Khanna and urged them to take responsibility for the consequences
Billionaire Exodus Concerns
Khanna has been a strong proponent of the proposed billionaire tax. Despite pushback from some of the state’s wealthiest residents, he has continued to defend the measure.
The tax has already prompted high-profile figures like Alphabet Inc.‘s (NASDAQ:GOOG) (NASDAQ:GOOGL) Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin to reduce their ties with California, further fueling concerns about its potential impact on the state’s economy.
Khosla’s remarks underscore the widening gulf in California’s tech sector and the possible long-term effects of the proposed tax as the billionaire tax debate rages on.
Photo Courtesy: Phil Pasquini on Shutterstock.com
Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
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