The Billionaire Tax Act, which could be added to California’s general election ballot in November, is stirring the state’s uber-rich into fight or flight, with many of the state’s billionaires already having migrated to southern Florida.
Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has become the latest California billionaire to add Florida property to his real estate portfolio, apparently in a preemptive move to avoid the tax burden.
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At a glance
- If passed, the Billionaire Tax Act would impose a one-time tax of 5% on the total wealth of California tax residents whose net worth is US $1 billion or more.
- The proposed wealth tax would apply to those who are California residents as of 1 January, 2026.
- California residents who are worth over the billion‑dollar threshold as of 1 January, 2026 would owe the tax in 2027, with payments spread over five years.
- The proposed tax has created a race to leave California, with the state’s billionaires picking up pace to establish tax-residence in states such as Florida.
- Zuckerberg joins a growing list of California billionaires heading south to Florida, which includes Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin as well as Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos.
- The sale has not officially closed according to sources, but it is understood that the waterfront mega-home will be the Meta CEO’s, who is worth more than US $237 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index, primary residence and will likely fetch between $150 million and $200 million.
- Miami’s Indian Creek Island is also home to Jeff Bezos, Ivanka Trump and Tom Brady
According to first reporting from US-based The Wall Street Journal, among the ultra-high-net-worth shifting to Florida is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg who, with his wife Priscilla Chan, is buying a newly completed waterfront mansion on Miami’s Indian Creek.
The man-made island in Miami’s Biscayne Bay is often called ‘Billionaires Bunker’ thanks to its concentrated shot of America’s ultra-wealthy.
According to local real estate agents, the mansion, which sits on a 2-acre plot, will likely fetch between US $150 million and US $200 million and is reportedly being sold by a limited liability company linked to Jersey Mike’s Subs sandwich chain founder Peter Cancro.
According to rendering from CMA Design Studio, an architecture and interiors firm based in Florida, the three-storey Spanish colonial style villa enjoys waterfront views, a jetty into Biscayne Bay and an outdoor pool amid lush gardens.
The sale has not officially closed according to sources, but it is understood that the waterfront mega-home will be the Meta CEO’s, who is worth more than US $237 billion according to Bloomberg’s Billionaires Index,
primary residence rather than a trophy second home for tax purposes.
Zuckerberg already owns a multimillion-dollar real estate portfolio, which includes homes in Palo Alto, two homes on the shores of Lake Tahoe, over 1,200 acres of land in Hawaii and a mansion in Washington, DC.
The yet-to-be-confirmed transaction is just one of many recent tax-driven billionaire moves to a Florida zip code that have hit headlines in the shadow of the proposed 5% California billionaire wealth tax.
A coterie of the world’s richest people fall within this bracket – all current or former residents of Silicon Valley. These include tech titans and California billionaires Jan Koum, co-founder of WhatsApp and Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang.
Separately, both Sergey Brin and Larry Page, the billionaire founders of Google, recently purchased super prime real estate in Florida.
Brin reportedly picked up a US $50 million oceanfront home on Miami Beach’s Allison Island while Page opted for two mega-mansions in Coconut Grove, Miami for more than $173 million.
The Indian Creek super prime gated community has become a magnet for billionaires and is often referred to as the ‘Billionaire Bunker’.
The ultra-secure enclave has only about 41 homes, its own police force, and a single access – a setup that appeals to global names who want total privacy and heightened security.
If the alleged move goes through, among Zuckerberg’s would‑be neighbours is Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, former NFL star Tom Brady, businessman Jared Kushner and Ivanka Trump, billionaire investor Carl Icahn and Spanish singer Julio Iglesias, who listed his mansion for US $200 million in November, 2025.
