A consultant who once railed against ‘the billionaire boys club’ is now leading opposition to California’s wealth tax

The consultant who once warned that California’s richest poured millions into politics because they had something to gain is now helping billionaires fight a tax on their fortunes.

Ned Wigglesworth, who decried the “billionaire boys’ club of politics” as a campaign finance reformer decades ago, is a key strategist behind Building a Better California, the political organization opposing Proposition 40, the November ballot measure that would impose a one-time 5% tax on Californians worth at least $1 billion. 

The campaign has already pulled big Silicon Valley money—Google cofounder Sergey Brin alone contributed over $100 million to the group, with venture capitalist John Doerr and crypto billionaire Chris Larsen also putting money into committees fighting the tax. Building a Better California has also reserved $87 million worth of advertising ahead of the vote.

It’s unclear what led Wigglesworth from opposing the political influence of California’s wealthy to helping them defeat a tax targeting their wealth. The San Francisco Standard called him a “billionaire whisperer” while citing several interviews with anonymous........

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