Key facts
- Palmer Luckey will not leave California despite opposition to a proposed wealth tax.
- Anduril, Luckey's defense tech firm, was last valued at $61 billion.
- Luckey believes the tax would negatively impact companies and the state's economy.
- He is concerned about taxes on unrealized assets and voting control of companies.
- Luckey estimates a potential $3 billion tax liability on Anduril alone.
Billionaire Palmer Luckey announced Monday that he will remain in California despite his strong opposition to a proposed wealth tax, a measure he believes will harm the state. Luckey, who sold his virtual reality company Oculus VR to Facebook for $2 billion in 2014 and founded the defense tech firm Anduril, valued at $61 billion, expressed concerns about the tax's impact on businesses and its assessment of unrealized and illiquid assets. He also criticized the tax's potential to tax the voting control of companies, citing his own situation as a founder who has diluted his ownership but maintained voting rights. Luckey stated he is not leaving California and intends to fight the proposed tax, hoping it does not pass or faces legal challenges.