A Growing Unease Among California’s Wealth Creators
California has long been viewed as a magnet for entrepreneurs, investors, innovators, and business builders. Its climate, talent base, lifestyle, and culture of ambition have made it one of the most powerful economic engines in the United States. Yet among high-net-worth individuals and business owners, a different conversation is gaining momentum.
In private investor circles, peer groups, and entrepreneurial networks, many are now discussing whether California remains the right place to build, invest, and preserve wealth. At the center of that conversation is concern around proposed wealth-related taxation, regulatory uncertainty, and what some business leaders describe as a growing hostility toward private capital.
That concern has found a particularly vocal audience inside TIGER 21, a global peer-to-peer learning network of nearly 2,000 ultra-high-net-worth wealth creators spanning entrepreneurs, investors, family office principals, and business owners. With a strong California presence, the network has become one of the clearest windows into how the state’s most financially sophisticated residents are processing what comes next.
One voice helping to frame that conversation is Gerry Morton, a Manhattan Beach-based entrepreneur and Chair of TIGER 21 Los Angeles. Morton is the founder and CEO of NutriScience Corp, a platform he built in 2003 to develop and acquire nutrition and consumer packaged goods brands, including EnergyFirst and Greens Plus, both of which grew into category leaders under his leadership. His academic credentials are equally extensive: he holds a Master of Science in Nutrition with honors, an Executive MBA from UCLA Anderson, and is a graduate of both the MIT Entrepreneurial Masters Program and the Harvard Business School/YPO President’s Program in Leadership. Beyond business, Morton is a past president of the Entrepreneurs’ Organization in Los Angeles, a YPO chapter board member, former Chair of the Manhattan Beach Planning Commissiona Manhattan Beach Planning Commissioner, and a veteran of four Ironman Triathlons, more than thirty marathons, and the TransPacific sailboat race. He is also a private pilot, ship captain, and licensed real estate broker.
That breadth of experience across peer networks, operating companies, community leadership, and high-performance competition gives Morton an unusually wide vantage point on how California’s business climate is being perceived by those with the most at stake.
The Concern Is Bigger Than One Tax
With the California 2026 Billionaire Tax Act having gathered enough signatures to advance in the ballot initiative process,With signatures for the California 2026 Billionaire Tax Act looking likely to clear by late June, the debate has moved from hypothetical to immediate. The proposed measure centers on a one-time five percent excise tax on individuals with a net worth of one billion dollars or more, and it has become a flashpoint in California’s business community.
Although the proposal is framed as a narrow levy on billionaires, many entrepreneurs see it as a precedent that could expand over time. The concern is not simply that a small group of extremely wealthy individuals may face a new tax. The deeper issue is trust. Business owners and investors depend on stable rules when making decisions about hiring, expansion, new ventures, and long-term investment. When tax policy feels unpredictable, it becomes harder to plan.
For entrepreneurs like Morton, instability can be more damaging than the tax itself. It affects how risk is calculated, where capital is placed, and whether founders choose to launch future companies in California at all.
Capital Moves Where It Feels Welcome
Morton described a rising belief among business leaders that California increasingly views private wealth as a source to fill budget gaps rather than as a driver of economic growth. That perception matters because the people targeted by these proposals are often among the most mobile residents in the state.
Unlike many wage earners tied to a specific job or location, billionaires and ultra-high-net-worth families often have homes, businesses, and professional networks across multiple states. If they believe the regulatory environment is becoming too unpredictable, relocation becomes a practical option rather than a distant consideration.
Florida, Texas, Nevada, and other lower-tax states are already attracting entrepreneurs, investors, and family offices. In some circles, the migration is no longer hypothetical. Morton noted that in one TIGER 21 peer group of 1311 members, three had relocated to Florida within the past year while continuing to travel back to Los Angeles for meetings. That kind of shift, quiet and incremental, is difficult to measure in real time but unmistakable to those inside the network.
TIGER 21 leadership is hearing similar patterns across Member Groups throughout California, with members raising questions not just about residency but about how the measure might reshape decisions around liquidity events, philanthropic giving, trust structures, succession planning, and family office strategy.
Why the Next Generation of Entrepreneurs May Matter Most
The most significant impact may not come from current billionaires leaving. It may come from the next generation choosing not to build in California at all.
Existing companies can be difficult to move. Founders may have employees, facilities, customers, and deep community ties. But new companies have more flexibility. Entrepreneurs deciding where to form their headquarters, establish residency, or build their leadership teams may simply choose another state before they ever approach a major valuation threshold.
This could affect California’s innovation economy over time. The state has long benefited from a cycle in which ambitious founders build companies, attract capital, create jobs, and reinvest in new ventures. If future founders begin avoiding California early, the effects may compound gradually but significantly. From TIGER 21’s vantage point, that long-term behavioural shift is as important to watch as any immediate relocation headline.
Los Angeles Faces Its Own Pressures
The discussion is especially relevant in Los Angeles, where local tax and policy concerns add another layer to statewide issues. Morton pointed to concerns around city-level taxes, including levies tied to high-value real estate transactions, and the perception that new development and business formation have become less attractive.
For entrepreneurs and investors, this creates a layered concern. State taxes, city taxes, regulatory complexity, and political uncertainty combine to shape the overall business climate. Even those who love the California lifestyle may begin to question whether future projects should be based elsewhere.
Morton himself remains committed to Southern California, describing Manhattan Beach, where he lives and serves on the Planning Commission, as an exceptional place to build a life. For some, the lifestyle value remains worth the cost. But that does not erase the broader concern that many peers are making different calculations, and that those calculations are accelerating as the ballot measure moves closer to becoming law.
The Slippery Slope Question
One of the most common fears Morton hears across his peer groups is that a tax aimed at billionaires today could eventually reach lower thresholds. Even if current proposals focus on the ultra-wealthy, many business leaders worry that public support for taxing the richest residents could make future expansion politically easier.
This concern reflects a broader erosion of confidence. Once people believe the rules can change quickly, they begin adjusting behavior before new rules are even passed. They relocate, restructure, delay investment, or avoid new commitments. TIGER 21 members are particularly attuned to this dynamic because many of them have navigated multiple business cycles, liquidity events, and regulatory shifts. They understand how quickly the ground can move.
In that sense, the debate is not only about tax revenue. It is about behavior. Capital responds to signals. When business owners feel targeted, they look for environments where capital formation is encouraged rather than penalized.
A Defining Moment for California’s Economic Future
California remains one of the most desirable and economically powerful places in the world. Its universities, creative industries, technology ecosystem, and lifestyle remain unmatched in many respects. But the state’s future as a home for wealth creation is now being actively debated by the very people who have helped fuel its growth.
For many high-net-worth individuals, the decision is no longer just about weather, community, or business opportunity. It is about confidence. They are asking whether California still offers a stable foundation for long-term planning.
