Mark Cuban posted on X responding to Rep. Ro Khanna’s support for a proposed 5% wealth tax on California billionaires. In the post, Cuban questioned how the measure would apply to founders of high-valuation startups who are cash-poor but stock-rich, and stated that he would require companies to leave California as a condition for his investment if the tax passes. The exchange has drawn significant online attention and discussion.
In the video attached to Khanna’s post, he stands outdoors in front of greenery. He says the California Democratic Party and labor movement “just stood with Bernie Sanders and me in supporting a 5% wealth tax on 250 California billionaires.”
He continues that “passing this ballot initiative” would support working and middle-class Californians, that “the Sacramento establishment and lobbyists are just blatantly out of touch,” and that California voters want a Democratic Party “that will stand up for the working class over the billionaire class.”
Cuban responded that founders of high-valuation startups in California are often “cash poor, stock rich,” asked how such a tax would be collected without forcing them to borrow against shares or surrender stock, and stated that if the measure passes, he would make “NOT being in California a prerequisite for an investment.”
Khanna later replied, asking why a non-recourse loan against pledged stock could not address the issue. The video shows no additional context beyond Khanna speaking.
How Users Are Responding to the Cuban-Khanna Exchange
Some users agreed with Cuban’s concerns about the practicality of the tax, with one writing, “Ro Khanna giving us a step-by-step guide on how to destroy innovation,” and another noting, as a loan officer, that “there is no possible way our bank would loan on sketchy paper wealth.”
Others questioned Cuban’s opening remark, with comments such as “I agree with everything you said, Mark, except when you say that you like Ro” and “What do you like about him?”
A different perspective argued that “Nothing screams ‘ideology over strategy’ like a billionaire threatening capital flight the second California asks the ultra-rich to chip in.”
Some focused on valuation challenges, asking, “How do you even calculate the value of their illiquid assets?”
The debate over California’s proposed wealth tax on billionaires continues, and Cuban’s comments add one more voice to the ongoing discussion about its effects on the state’s startup scene.
