LA Times Op-Ed: Why Billionaires Shouldn't Fuss Over the Wealth Tax

This article was originally published in The Los Angeles Times opinion section on May 23, 2026.

Here's an exceprt:

Money begets money, and 50% rates of return aren’t unusual for the ultra-wealthy. Compounded over 20 years, that turns $1 million into $3.3 billion. Want to verify that? Simply pull up your calculator, multiply a million by 1.5, and then repeat that 19 more times.

California’s proposed wealth tax would do virtually nothing to stop this level of wealth accumulation. “Unrealized gains” remain otherwise untaxed, and billionaires still have all kinds of ways to avoid triggering a taxable event, keeping them unrealized.

Working Californians on the other hand have taxes withheld before their paychecks ever reach their bank accounts. Apart from tax-qualified retirement plans, everything in their savings comes from after-tax income. Federal, state and payroll taxes on what they earn, save and invest amount to about 40%.

Billionaires’ taxes amount to zero. So long as they don’t sell any of the shares that made them rich, they’re not actually forced to pay taxes on the skyrocketing value of those shares. A “wealth tax” worthy of the name would ensure they pay the same as the rest of us, around 40%. That would not prevent them from amassing fortunes. Their $1 million would still grow to $190 million over 20 years — which is colossal, just not as colossal as $3.3 billion.

You can read the full article on the LA Times website.