Yes, There Really Was A 'march For Billionaires' Rally In San Francisco - Beritaja

SAN FRANCISCO — As California struggles pinch homelessness and healthcare cuts, immoderate activists are taking connected an unexpected cause: fighting for billionaires.

About a twelve group took portion successful the “March for Billionaires” connected Saturday greeting successful San Francisco to raise consciousness about the plight of the ultrarich. Although immoderate assumed the arena was satire, organizer Derik Kauffman said it was a sincere protestation against a imaginable caller taxation connected the state’s wealthiest residents.

“We must not judge billionaires arsenic a people but by their individual merits,” he said, speaking extracurricular the San Francisco Civic Center. “There are bully billionaires and bad billionaires, conscionable for illustration location are bully group and bad people. California is extraordinarily fortunate that this is wherever group travel to commencement companies and build fortunes and we should do our champion to support it that way.”

The Billionaire Tax Act is simply a proposed authorities ballot initiative that would levy a one-time, 5% taxation connected the state’s billionaires to thief offset caller national cuts that person affected healthcare and food-assistance programs. The taxation would use to their wide nett worthy but would exclude pensions, existent property and status accounts.

Supporters opportunity it would use the mostly of the state’s residents and thief guarantee billionaires salary their adjacent share. Opponents — including Gov. Gavin Newsom — reason it will origin billionaires and the businesses they ain to fly the state, taking jobs and taxation dollars pinch them.

Kauffman echoed those concerns Saturday and said everyone should want billionaires to stay successful California.

“This taxation will thrust billionaires out; it already has,” he said. “The founders of Google — they near the authorities and they are taking their money pinch them.”

Google is still headquartered successful California, but different companies tied to Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin precocious lef the state, including T-Rex Holdings, which moved from Palo Alto to Reno past year.

San Francisco Jan. 7, 2026 Two counter-protesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by playing characters they dubbed “Oli Garch” and “Trilly O’Naire.”

(Katie King / Los Angeles Times)

The arena attracted a fewer twelve humorous counterprotesters.

Razelle Swimmer carried about a puppet of the Swedish Chef from the Muppets, brandishing knives and wearing an apron that said “Eat the Rich.” Swimmer told The Times she doesn’t judge billionaires request much protections.

“If they aren’t consenting to salary much taxes, past I don’t really attraction if they leave,” she said.

Other counterprotesters mockingly impersonated billionaires by donning crowns aliases apical hats. A man and woman, playing characters called Oli Garch and Trilly O’Naire, said they worried what would hap if the taxation passed.

“There is simply a mini chance that my chopper won’t beryllium capable to person a sauna successful it conscionable because apparently immoderate kids want dental activity aliases something,” said the woman, arsenic she adjusted her tiara.

At 1 point, a man wearing a golden crown and carrying a motion that said “Let them eat cake” ran done the crowd shouting, “Keep the poors distant from me.”

The Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West, the main backer of the taxation proposal, needs to cod about 875,000 signatures by June 24 successful bid to get the measurement connected the November ballot.

The Legislative Analyst’s Office, which offers guidance to the Legislature about budgetary issues, has cautioned that the taxation mightiness lead to only short-term benefits.

“It is apt that immoderate billionaires determine to time off California,” the agency stated in a caller analysis. “The income taxes they presently salary to the authorities would spell distant pinch their departure. The simplification successful authorities revenues from these kinds of responses could beryllium hundreds of millions of dollars aliases much per year.”

California has about 200 billionaires, the about of immoderate state. Their corporate wealthiness was $2.2 trillion successful October, up from $300 cardinal successful 2011, according to a December study from rule and economics professors astatine UC Berkeley, UC Davis and the University of Missouri.

The researchers concluded that billionaires successful the United States salary little successful taxes, comparative to income, than the mean American.

“It is estimated that, including each taxes astatine each levels of government, billionaires paid only 24% of their existent economical income successful taxes successful years 2018-20 while the U.S.-wide mean was 30%,” the study states.