An AI startup founder is dead serious about organizing a protest march for billionaires. Derik Kaufmann, founder of Y Combinator-backed RunRL, is leading a march this Saturday in San Francisco against California's proposed wealth tax - and he insists it's not satire. The move adds a bizarre twist to the ongoing battle over the Billionaire Tax Act, which would levy a one-time 5% tax on residents worth over $1 billion. Tech elites have been up in arms over the legislation, with some threatening to leave the state entirely.
Silicon Valley's opposition to California's wealth tax just took an absurdist turn. Derik Kaufmann, founder of AI startup RunRL, is organizing what he's calling a 'March for Billionaires' in San Francisco this Saturday - and he swears it's not performance art.
The San Francisco Examiner first reported Kaufmann's identity after a mysterious website advertising the event went viral earlier this week. The site's tagline - 'Vilifying billionaires is popular. Losing them is expensive' - sparked immediate speculation that it was elaborate satire. It wasn't. Kaufmann, whose company went through Y Combinator's accelerator program, told the Examiner he's funding and organizing the entire event himself, with no backing from wealthy donors or corporate interests.
The target of Kaufmann's protest is the Billionaire Tax Act, which would require Californians worth over $1 billion to pay a one-time 5% tax on their total wealth. The legislation, introduced last year and backed by SEIU, California's healthcare union, could generate billions for public services and offset federal funding cuts. But it's become a lightning rod in the tech industry.
