Google co-founder Larry Page has quietly expanded his footprint in Florida with more than $170 million in luxury property purchases, as a proposed California wealth tax targeting the ultra-wealthy gains political momentum and heads toward a possible statewide vote.
The buying spree comes as California lawmakers and labor groups push a ballot initiative that would impose a one-time 5% tax on residents with a net worth exceeding $1 billion. The proposal, introduced in November 2025 by a healthcare workers’ union and backed by figures including Rep. Ro Khanna and Senator Bernie Sanders, is projected to raise roughly $100 billion for public schools and food assistance programmes.
Under the plan, billionaires would be taxed on stock holdings and business interests, though real estate assets would be excluded because property owners already pay existing property taxes, according to the state’s nonpartisan Legislative Analyst’s Office.
Eligible taxpayers would also be allowed to spread payments over five years. The measure requires more than 870,000 signatures to qualify for the November 2026 ballot and would apply retroactively to billionaires who were California residents as of January 1.
Against that backdrop, Page — who reportedly has a net worth of $277.9B and is ranked the 2nd richest person in the world by Forbes — has emerged as a high-profile example of the broader shift underway among wealthy Californians.
In December, he purchased a 4.5-acre compound in Miami’s Coconut Grove neighbourhood for $101.5 million, according to Miami-Dade County records. The estate was previously owned by the late restaurateur Jonathan Lewis.
A second transaction followed in January, when the Tropical Frontier Revocable Trust, an entity associated with Page, acquired another property less than a mile away for $71.9 million. The trust lists Florida attorney Benjamin Babcock and Rosewood Family Advisors chief operating officer Mary McFadden Quisenberry as trustees.
Real estate professionals say Page’s purchases reflect a surge in demand from California buyers at the top end of Florida’s market. Danny Hertzberg of the Jills Zeder Group, who worked on the Coconut Grove deal, described a sharp uptick late last year.
“We started feeling an impact, let’s say in early December, which really picked up going to the end of the year. California’s dominating the high end of the market. The market right now, in terms of offers and active buyers, has a huge California presence, and it’s directly related to 5% net worth,” Hertzberg told a media outlet.
Financial disclosures offer further insight into the network behind the acquisitions. Tax filings for the Carl Victor Page Memorial Foundation, Page’s family foundation, show that Rosewood Family Advisors provided tax and accounting services in 2024. Page has also indicated plans to relocate several of his California-based businesses to Texas, Florida, and Delaware.
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The proposed tax has drawn fierce criticism from prominent business leaders, many of whom argue it would force founders to liquidate large portions of their companies. Anduril co-founder Palmer Luckey warned that the levy would require entrepreneurs to sell ownership stakes to raise cash. “Now, me and my co-founders have to somehow come up with billions of dollars in cash,” he wrote in a recent post on X.
Others have echoed similar concerns. Sun Microsystems co-founder Vinod Khosla said a wealth tax could push billionaires to leave California entirely, while Pershing Square chief Bill Ackman argued that such policies “effectively represent an expropriation of private property and have many unintended and negative consequences.”
Opposition efforts are already being funded. Palantir Technologies co-founder Peter Thiel has donated $3 million to the California Business Roundtable’s political action committee, which is actively campaigning against the initiative as signature collection continues.
As the proposal moves closer to the ballot, Page’s Florida purchases underscore the high-stakes economic and political battle unfolding over how — and where — America’s wealthiest residents choose to live.
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