Elon Musk has said that he has paid more than $10 billion in taxes in a single year, which he claimed was more than anyone in history paid every year. The tech billionaire was responding to a post by an “Do rich people pay taxes? > Yes. Do they pay their fair share? > More actually,” the post read. Elon Musk replied to the post saying “I have paid over $10B in taxes in a single year, more than anyone in history”.In the post, Musk stated that if he exercises and sells stock options, his combined federal and state income tax rate would be nearly 45%. “If I exercise and sell stock options, the combined federal and state income tax is ~45% (I still pay California taxes for every day I spend there),” Musk wrote adding “Then there is another 40% tax paid on my estate when I die”.“Overall, I will probably end up paying trillions in taxes”.Elon Musk’s comments come as the proposed wealth tax in California goes up for voting soon. The proposed California Wealth tax imposes a one-time 5% tax on individuals with a net worth above $1 billion. The Tesla CEO has criticized the tax, joking that it may be better to leave the planet if taxes keep rising.
Tech billionaire exits linked to California’s proposed wealth tax
The proposed billionaire tax has already been linked to the departure of several high-profile tech leaders from California. Over the past few years, a number of Silicon Valley founders and executives have moved their primary residences out of the state, citing rising taxes and regulatory uncertainty.Google co-founder Larry Page shifted his residence to Florida, while fellow Google co-founder Sergey Brin has also left California. Oracle founder Larry Ellison has also moved out of the Silicon Valley, while PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel relocated to Florida. Recent reports said that Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilia Chan have also purchased a home in South Florida, joining the California billionaires leaving the state.
