Jensen Huang, CEO of NVIDIA and the world's ninth-richest person, stated that he is not worried about the so-called 'billionaire tax' currently under consideration in his home state of California and that he is willing to accept it.

On January 6 (local time), during an interview with Bloomberg TV, CEO Huang was asked about California's proposed wealth tax and responded, "To be honest, I've never really thought about it."

He added, "We chose to live in Silicon Valley, and whatever taxes they impose, we will accept them as they are," emphasizing, "It doesn't matter to me at all."

Progressive Democratic lawmakers in California, along with the Service Employees International Union-United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW), are pushing for a one-time 5% wealth tax on individuals with a net worth of at least 1 billion dollars (approximately 1.4488 trillion won). If the bill passes, the tax will be levied based on net worth as of January 1 this year. According to asset information company Altrata, as of 2024, approximately 255 billionaires have their business address registered in California, which accounts for 22% of all U.S. billionaires.

Yonhap News Agency

원본보기 아이콘

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index on this day, CEO Huang's net worth stands at 155 billion dollars, ranking him ninth in the world. If a 5% tax is imposed, CEO Huang would have to pay 7.75 billion dollars.

While CEO Huang said he would continue to reside in California even if the wealth tax is implemented, other billionaires have left the state before the January 1 tax assessment date due to concerns over the massive tax burden. Billionaire investor Peter Thiel, founder of PayPal and Palantir, opened a Thiel Capital office in Miami and relocated to Florida, while David Sacks, former 'AI Czar' in the Trump administration and White House Science and Technology Advisor, moved to Austin, Texas.

NVIDIA's headquarters are currently located in Santa Clara, California. CEO Huang explained that the reason NVIDIA remains in Silicon Valley is because of the talent pool there. He also emphasized that, unlike many in the tech industry who are concerned about taxes, he is not, stating, "I am someone who is building the future of AI."