Emmanuel Saez, the UC Berkeley economist who designed California's proposed billionaire wealth tax, accused the Washington Post and owner Jeff Bezos of publishing "misinformation" about the measure.
Saez criticized a Post editorial board piece arguing the tax would cost California billions in lost revenue due to a billionaire exodus, claiming the analysis contains "glaring falsehoods" and omits key details.
The proposal would impose a one-time 5% tax on assets of California's approximately 200 billionaires to raise roughly $100 billion for healthcare, food assistance, and education. Saez pointed out that the cited study modeled a permanent annual tax rather than the one-time tax actually proposed, and vastly overestimated California income taxes paid by wealthy residents.
The economist noted that between 2019 and 2025, three tech billionaires paid only $269 million in state income taxes annually, not the $1.7 billion claimed.
Saez also highlighted that over 400 California hospitals have fired 3,400 healthcare workers due to federal funding cuts.
“Local hospitals and emergency rooms could shut their doors forever because billionaires insist on paying less than the rest of us,” Saez said.
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