Billionaire Palmer Luckey isn’t leaving California over the wealth tax
- ID
- 39928
- Status
- summarized
- Published
- 27 Oct 2026, 9:01 PM
- Fetched
- 27 Oct 2026, 9:33 PM
- Provider
- TechCrunch
- Category
- technology
- Original URL
- https://techcrunch.com/2026/10/27/billionaire-palmer-luckey-isnt-leaving-california-over-the-wealth-tax/
- Source URL
- https://techcrunch.com/feed/
Summary
- Score
- 1.5
- Created
- 27 Oct 2026, 9:34 PM
- Tags
- Audience
- startup-founders
What happened
Palmer Luckey said at an invite-only press conference that he is staying in California despite opposing a proposed billionaire wealth tax ballot measure, rejecting pressure from other billionaires to leave. He sold Oculus VR to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014 at age 21, and his defense tech firm Anduril, headquartered in Costa Mesa, was last valued at $61 billion. He objects partly because the measure is sponsored by a unit of the United Healthcare Workers union that would use the revenue 'for their uses.'
Why it matters
No direct impact for Malaysian developers or founders: this is a US state tax-policy and billionaire-sentiment story, with no product, platform, pricing, or funding change that affects local builders. If you track US founder relocation narratives, note Luckey's stated reason for staying, but do not treat it as a signal for Malaysia.
Discussion angle
Contrast Luckey's 'stay and fight' stance with the pressure he says he is getting from other billionaires—useful only if your founders are weighing location-based tax incentives.