Chamath Palihapitiya

This chart shows that the top 1% of California taxpayers are responsible for more than 33% of all tax dollars. The top 0.1% of California taxpayers payers (~17,500 people) are responsible for more than 16% of all tax revenues. The point is that only a few people, in a state of 40M people, pay a huge portion of the state’s revenues. As one of them, I can tell you categorically that we’ve had enough. We will all move if this tax insanity doesn’t stop and pockets are organizing already to do so en masse. The middle class will then be left alone to pay for all the waste of the politicians you’ve elected because they have no ability to stop.

Insane. We need a ballot proposition to vote on this so California politicians can be shown that none of us want high state taxes to begin with but especially when it’s used to pay for elective healthcare for illegal immigrants while American citizens get less for paying into the system.

President Trump can make this happen. It would transform America. https://t.co/oSip2zf05Q

What I read this week... 1) JGB Yields Break New Highs Explained On January 19, 2026, the Japanese Government Bond (JGB) market experienced what U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent described as a 6-standard deviation move. The 40-year yield spiked by 26-basis-points in a single session, breaching 4.2% for the first time since the maturity was introduced in 2007. This crisis was triggered by Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi’s announcement to dissolve the current parliament and force a ‘snap’ general election on February 8. By doing this, she is bypassing lawmakers who oppose her and asking the public to elect a new majority that will give h…

This bill is an attempt at creating a nanny state. It’s an assault on hi agency people and freedom. That is the opposite of democracy. Other than bitter losers, are there any credible people that actually believes this stuff?

The California budget is hosed. Now, the only place to look is the middle class and what should worry an average Californian is that this idiotic “Billionaire Tax” actually allows the legislature to apply it to the middle class as they see fit. Buyer beware…

Deep Dive: How a $5 Trillion Food Economy Feeds America

Feeding the United States is an economic operation that serves over 340 million people every day. The $5 trillion economy of food production and distribution must function regardless of weather, labor availability, or price swings. Several constraints are adding pressure to the American agriculture system at the same time: Farm input costs remain elevated relative to the pre-2020 period. Water sources in key producing regions are being depleted roughly 10x faster than they are replenished. Labor shortages persist in crops that cannot be easily mechanized. The average farmer is now 58 years old, and rising. In 2024, the US agricultural t…

Besties!!! 🥰

The blue states in the image below have electricity prices that are as much as 4x the electricity rates of the red states. This is not due to any technological inferiority in those blue states but specific policy decisions that have driven competition out and prices up. https://t.co/T7AJZaTr14

I mentioned this earlier but there are a lot of interesting consequences to autonomous driving. One of them is that insurance companies start to look more financially predictable...they charge lower premiums, but they also pay out less. This will flow through to reinsurers as well. Case in point, Lemonade cutting premiums by 50% if you drive a Tesla with FSD. Important implications for all car insurers.

A first of its kind asset seizure tax is illegal and unconstitutional. If this makes the California ballot in November and passes because voters don't know any better, it will then just meander through the courts for the next 10 years because hundreds of well funded lawsuits won't let this stand. In the meantime, California will not get access to any of this money only to find out that the Constitution doesn't allow this and then find out all the rich people left leaving them only the middle class to tax even more. What California politicians should be doing is funding healthcare, education and policing through more efficiency and rooting o…

At this rate, Virginia will soon have nothing left to tax or take…

The great thing about the current moment is that there will be a Polymarket tied to every problem that a politician says will be solved by raising taxes. Whatever we lose by paying more, we can earn back by betting on what we know will happen: nothing.

Not sure how many people know this but, in SF, a union is proposing fines for companies whose CEO is paid more than 100x their median employee. Again, like in the asset seizure tax, the proceeds would be to pay for various services that could be funded if there was instead a focus on cutting waste. https://t.co/RLL6r4neUs

I look forward to voting on the Billionaire Tax. Please put it on the ballot.

No more winners! They make the rest of us feel bad. Instead of self improvement, I want to wallow in resentment of you - because you are a winner! How dare you!!! I think its time for everyone to be an equal loser. Let's teach our kids to be losers. How great it will be! Don't study - whatever, your grades don't matter. Can't read - it's ok, we will subsidize you. Won't work - no worries, here's a handout. Equal opportunity losing is way better and more just than unequal winning! I think we can all agree on that!

The fight over the “Billionaire Tax” has uncovered the following truth: A small group of people are trying to normalize being an unaccomplished grifter who can’t make hard decisions and would rather take from winners even if it’s illegal or unconstitutional. In doing so, it would torch the 4th largest economy in the world! This is what little care they have for the future. So, do you want to tell your kids that being a loser is ok? Don’t try, just take from others. Or do you want to tell them that you get out of a system what you put in and adults need to step up and make hard decisions. Let’s vote on the tax so we can decide where the Sta…

California is a bunch of elected grifters appointing their friends to NGOs who also grift while trying to distract people by calling anyone who works hard a grifter or an evil billionaire so they can tax and steal everything without being caught. This state is a fucking joke.

Birth tourism…what could go wrong?!

I’m more convinced we need to get the BTA on the ballot in California. Do people want an asset seizure tax? Especially one that politicians can apply arbitrarily in the future? Talk about cutting your nose off to spite your face. But anyways, let’s vote on it. NB: if the tax applies to you, you should know that you will be able to file an injunction with the Franchise Tax Board that will force them to put any money collected into escrow while your lawsuit(s) works its way through state and federal courts. Fortunately, your odds of winning are high since this tax was designed to be retroactive and the case law on the illegality/unconstitut…

I disagree. Billionaires should stop hiding. They should be extra vocal. Let’s vote on the BTA and let the chips fall where it may. Door 1: Status Quo. Take the BTA off the ballot and focus on cutting waste, fraud and abuse and keep the existing system going. Door 2: Chaos. Put the BTA on the ballot and vote it in. This will start hundreds of well funded individual lawsuits at the state and federal level. Some will invariably win by finding that this attempted retroactive asset seizure is illegal/unconstitutional. In the intervening decade, California’s budget will develop an enormous hole and the state will be fiscally upside down. The on…

Has fentanyl usage also dropped in this same time or is the drug now less potent?

The waste in California is now so obvious that even Hollywood has had enough.

This is my cardiologist and this is about me…

The next shoe to drop? A $500B Tax Equity Fund can pay the electricity costs of all US homeowners forever by paying for each home to get solar + storage. If this happens, it will be historic. The OBBBA already has the tax law codified to enable the Mag7 to do this right now.

New Pod!

I haven't really talked about this, but about five years ago, I invested $45M in a Series A that created Beast Industries by bringing together all of Jimmy's various business interests under one umbrella. Creating Beast Industries allowed us to streamline our capital allocation and double down on the big long term opportunities like financial services, telecoms, a creator marketplace etc. Jimmy has come a long way in these past 5 years and the business is just starting to get going. I'm very excited for him to have a chance to achieve his ambition. He's a very special entrepreneur.

💀💀 https://t.co/yq6mh2WW2A

Wow, indeed.

Don’t forget about the unfunded pension liabilities. California is on the hook for $1T in pension liabilities. It’s totally unclear how it pays these obligations. We need a hard reset on our approach to government in California. What we’ve been doing ISN’T WORKING!