Sergey Brin has given $500,000 to a group opposing San Francisco Measure D, according to a political contribution filing submitted Wednesday. The measure will go before voters on June 2 and would tax the pay of executives who earn more than 100 times the median compensation rate of their employees.
If approved, Measure D would take effect in 2027 and raise top executive pay tax rates for businesses to between about 0.183% and 1.121% of gross receipts. It would also set payroll-based rates from 0.75% to 4.47%, depending on the pay ratio. The city estimates the proposal would bring in $250 million to $300 million in annual tax revenue.
Brin’s donation puts him into one of California’s most bitter tax fights at a time when he has already moved some of his economic interests away from the state. Earlier this year, he backed Building a Better California with $57 million to help it fight the state’s proposed wealth tax on billionaires. At the start of this year, he was among wealthy California residents who moved their residence and some business interests out of the state ahead of the tax’s potential effective date.
Measure D is backed by several union groups, as well as Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Nancy Pelosi of California. Sanders has said corporations pay their fair share, while supporters cast the measure as a way to push back against extreme pay gaps and raise money for the city.
Mayor Daniel Lurie has lined up on the other side. He said the measure will cause major employers to leave San Francisco and prevent new companies from setting up shop there. That warning captures the basic fight over Measure D: whether the tax would make corporate pay more closely match the city’s politics or push businesses to look elsewhere.
Brin has been blunt about his own view of California’s tax climate, once saying, “I fled socialism.” His latest contribution shows that he is not just watching that debate from the sidelines. He is helping finance the opposition as San Francisco voters decide whether to put a new executive-pay tax on the books.
