Mark Cuban said ‘only idiot’ founders would stay in California under a wealth tax. We asked 3 founders if they’d leave.

Mark Cuban said startup founders would leave under a proposed wealth tax. The founders themselves are split.

California will vote on its statewide “billionaire tax” in November. In an X response to Rep. Ro Khanna, Cuban said the tax would adversely affect founders, who may be billionaires in stock but lack the cash to pay it. “If this passes, only idiot startup founders stay,” he wrote.

In an email to Business Insider, Cuban clarified that “not every founder will face the tax.” There are “a lot of incentives to go elsewhere,” he wrote.

“Cali isn’t the only place with a nice climate,” Cuban wrote.

Business Insider put Cuban’s theory to the test…