Alexis Ohanian Says Taxing Unrealized Gains Isn't The Answer To Growing Wealth Gap, Reddit Co-Founder Slams California's Proposed Billionaire Tax

Benzinga_recent_news2025-12-29

Reddit Inc. (NYSE:RDDT) co-founder Alexis Ohanian has slammed California’s proposed 5% billionaire wealth tax, warning that it could be an expensive mistake, especially for the state’s startup economy...

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(NYSE:RDDT) co-founder Alexis Ohanian has slammed California’s proposed 5% billionaire wealth tax, warning that it could be an expensive mistake, especially for the state’s startup economy...</p>\n\n<a href=\"https://www.benzinga.com/news/legal/25/12/49603091/alexis-ohanian-says-taxing-unrealized-gains-isnt-the-answer-to-growing-wealth-gap-reddit-co-founder-slams-californias-proposed-billionaire-tax\">Source Link</a>\n\n</div>\n\n\n</article>\n</div>\n</body>\n</html>\n","isBrief":false,"type":0,"news_type":1,"symbol":"LU2360107168.USD","symbol_name":"BGF NEXT GENERATION TECHNOLOGY \"A4\" (USD) INC","start_time":0,"source_url":"https://www.benzinga.com/news/legal/25/12/49603091/alexis-ohanian-says-taxing-unrealized-gains-isnt-the-answer-to-growing-wealth-gap-reddit-co-founder-slams-californias-proposed-billionaire-tax","article_id":"2595120982","we_media_id":null,"thumbnails":["https://cdn.benzinga.com/files/images/story/2025/12/28/New-York--Ny---Sep-7--2019-Alexis-Ohania.jpeg?optimize=medium&dpr=2&auto=webp&width=240"],"rights":{"source":"benzinga_recent_news","url":"https://www.benzinga.com/news/legal/25/12/49603091/alexis-ohanian-says-taxing-unrealized-gains-isnt-the-answer-to-growing-wealth-gap-reddit-co-founder-slams-californias-proposed-billionaire-tax","rn_cache_url":null,"directOrigin":true},"url":"https://stock-news.laohu8.com/highlight/detail?id=2595120982","pubTimestamp":1766981880,"columns":[],"sourceInfo":{"source_id":"benzinga_recent_news","name":"Benzinga"},"weMediaInfo":null,"summary":"Reddit Inc. 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(NYSE:RDDT) co-founder Alexis Ohanian has slammed California’s proposed 5% billionaire wealth tax, warning that it could be an expensive mistake, especially for the state’s startup economy.\nOn Sunday, in a pair of posts on X, Ohanian acknowledged that the widening “wealth gap” presents a fundamental challenge for society, something that needs to be addressed to “preserve our republic.”\nSee Also: Chamath Palihapitiya Warns California Wealth Tax Could Crush Startup Founders: ‘It Will Kill Entrepreneurship In California’\nHowever, he added that “the answer is definitely not taxing unrealized gains,” which is being proposed as a ballot measure in California. Known as the 2026 Billionaire Tax Act, it seeks to impose a one-time 5% levy on the net worth of billionaires living in the state, aimed at raising $100 billion to fund essential services.\nThe proposal also includes heavy penalties for underreporting, ranging from 20% to 40% of the total tax owed, and seeks to close all potential loopholes that could be used to evade it.\nOhanian, who has an estimated net worth of $150 million, according to Celebrity Net Worth, responded to a comment on his post asking how a wealth tax would be any different from property taxes that are imposed on the total unrealized value of an asset. Ohanian said that it was “deeply troubling” that people thought like this.\nHe said “taxing unrealized startup equity like real estate” would be like “taxing lottery tickets based on what someone might win,” since houses don’t “expire worthless,” while a vast majority of startups do.\nCalifornia-based venture capitalist Chamath Palihapitiya, with a net worth of $1.2 billion, according to Forbes, echoed Ohanian’s concerns in a post on X, saying, “California does not have a revenue problem. It has a spending problem,” amid the state’s attempts to raise more revenue to pay for essential services.\n“Politicians and their henchmen [are] stealing tens of billions of dollars per year from our pockets,” he said, highlighting the state’s inability to pass an audit.\nPalihapitiya warned of long-term consequences if such policies go through, saying, “California will soon start to lose its grip on being the most vibrant state in America,” adding that the state’s billionaires will relocate, and that “the millionaires and middle class will too.” \nNeither Palihapitiya nor Ohanian immediately responded to Benzinga’s request for a comment on this. The story will be updated as soon as we hear back.\nRead More: \nPhoto Courtesy: Lev Radin on Shutterstock.com","kind":"highlight","is_publish_news":true,"is_publish_highlight":false,"is_publish_live":false,"is_publish_wemedia":null,"editions":null,"column":"","sentiment":"0","news_tag":"","news_rank":0,"symbols":[],"gpt_button":0,"need_auth":false,"code":"91000000","status":"200"},"commentList":[],"isCommentEnd":true,"newsSizeData":{"likeSize":0,"commentSize":0,"repostSize":0,"favoriteSize":0,"likeStatus":false,"favoriteStatus":false},"APP":{"userAgent":"Mozilla/5.0 AppleWebKit/537.36 (KHTML, like Gecko; compatible; ClaudeBot/1.0; +claudebot@anthropic.com)","isDev":false,"isTTM":true,"tenantId":"TBGLOBAL","deviceId":"web-server-community-laohu8-v3","version":"4.36.0","shortVersion":"4.36.0","platform":"web","vendor":"web","appName":"ttm","isIOS":false,"isAndroid":false,"isTiger":false,"isTHS":false,"isWeiXin":false,"isWeiXinMini":false,"isWeiBo":false,"isQQ":false,"isBaiduSwan":false,"isBaiduBox":false,"isDingTalk":false,"isToutiao":false,"isOnePlus":false,"isHuaWei":false,"isXiaomi":false,"isXiaomiWebView":false,"isOppo":false,"isVivo":false,"isSamsung":false,"isMobile":false},"href":"/m/news/2595120982","isCrawlerRequest":true}