Inside the billionaires’ war against California’s proposed wealth tax

Every Tuesday for the last few months, two dozen of the world’s richest people or their advisers hop onto a conference call and plan for war. The war is against a proposed tax, but not just any tax. It is against a “wealth tax” on California billionaires, one that Silicon Valley’s most affluent see as an existential threat that could usher in a new way of attacking them. So in confidential memos, WhatsApp and Signal chats and conference calls, they are banding together to battle back. RELATED: ‘They’ve awakened him’: How a wealth tax fight made Sergey Brin a political force The calls are organized by Building a Better California, a nonprofit started this year to fight Proposition 40, the ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires if voters approve it next week. Each week, the nonprofit’s operatives brief donors or their advisers on polling, advertising and opposition research. Often, the calls include an ask: Would you consider giving a little more? Eighty or so