Sergey Brin gave $20M as tech billionaires spent $35M ahead of California wealth-tax vote

Google cofounder Sergey Brin was the largest donor in a January filing that showed he and other California billionaires gave a combined $35 million to ballot measure committees ahead of the state's wealth-tax vote, according to a disclosure seen by Business Insider. The disclosure, filed by the coalition Building a Better California, said the January donations were intended to support affordable-housing ballot measures.

Brin was listed as donating $20 million, with former Google CEO Eric Schmidt and PayPal cofounder Max Levchin giving $2 million and $1 million, respectively. Other names on the list included DoorDash CEO Tony Xu, Stripe CEO Patrick Collison, and Kleiner Perkins chairman John Doerr.

Business Insider said groups backing those donations are aiming to fund alternative programs or political efforts that could reduce support for the proposed wealth tax. The proposed measure would impose a one-time, 5% tax on billionaires in California, with the levy due in 2027 and applied retroactively to January 1 of this year, the report said.

The donations came as the measure has become a contentious issue in the state.

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