California voters reject the 5% billionaire wealth tax

California's Proposition 40, which asked whether the ultra-rich should pay a one-time 5% tax on their net worth to fund healthcare, education and food assistance, has been rejected, La Vanguardia reports. With about 70% of votes counted, US media projected the no side winning with 55%. The measure would have made California the first state with a wealth tax rather than an income tax, and would have hit residents worth more than $1,000 million, among them Mark Zuckerberg (Meta), Dario Amodei (Anthropic) and Jensen Huang (Nvidia), with a 5% levy on their total wealth. Pushed by a healthcare-sector union, it split the state's Democratic Party, which backed it publicly despite the opposition of Governor Gavin Newsom and California's tech magnates. The billionaires keep their 5%, for now; the campaign has shown the idea can reach a ballot.