My X blew up yesterday. The fraud in Minnesota is appalling. I suggest you check out Power Line and County Highway for information. Even if you are a strong Democrat, you ought to be appalled. The level of fraud and theft is unparalleled.

The other issue blowing up my X is the proposed wealth tax in California. I thought that David Friedberg had a wonderful piece on his X stream here. Atlas isn’t shrugging anymore. For more information, read the hubris of Ro Khanna.

Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for 5 years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts.

I echo what FDR said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, "I will miss them very much."

And

My district is $18 trillion, nearly 1/3 of US stock market in a 50 mile radius. We have 5 companies with a market cap over a trillion dollar companies. If I can stand up for a billionaire tax, this is not a hard position for 434 other members or 100 Senators.

As if Ro was the creator of all that wealth……

I watched entrepreneurs I invested in exit companies and saw California take a significant portion of their exit. It disgusted me because the state did nothing to build the company. The state did nothing to take the risk.

Wealth taxes are stupid taxes. They aren’t serious, and the economic incentives that go along with them are horrible. Frankly, this idea is not going away. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders floated it long ago for the US. It’s just come back in a different form. Washington state is trying to preserve its “no income tax” moniker, but it is looking at all kinds of ways to tax income and wealth. States are laboratories, and the socialists are using them.

It’s the same with the financial transaction tax that rears its ugly head in NY and Illinois. They go away because of the stupidity, but the idea remains and comes back in another form.

This isn’t a single-state battle. It’s a nationwide battle. The fight is everywhere, not just fought in isolation.

I think Don Wilson said it correctly.

California is competing with 49 other states that don’t have a wealth tax. Whether one believes it’s a good or a bad policy (I think it’s a very bad policy), of course it will cause human capital to move to states that don’t have a wealth tax. I will take it one step further: anybody with a significant stake in a company who has a fiduciary duty to other shareholders of that company has a duty to move out of California in order to avoid pushing down the equity value from tax-driven sales. (bold mine)

Yes. It’s time. It’s time for the capitalists to flex their muscles. Don’t just sit there and take it.

It’s painful to move. I know. I did it. Move. There are plenty of other places in the US that would welcome you. You might desire change where you are now, but they aren’t going to change. They are going to dig in. They might relax for a second, but they will come back harder and in a new way.

In addition, activist judges have ruled in Delaware courts. You know about Tesla’s troubles. Tesla ($TSLA) moved out of Delaware and rechartered in a different state. Leading venture capital firm a16z wrote a great piece here on why they moved to Nevada.

Nevada isn’t a perfect fit for every company, but it is for a lot of them. Reno is a great place and a short drive from San Francisco. LA is a mere 4 hours to Las Vegas. Electricity is cheap. The sun shines. The state is starting to work on figuring out its dependency on California for fuel, and it is working on an ancient water negotiation that happened generations ago. Contrary to opinion, there is water, but the allocation isn’t favorable to Nevada right now. Nevada is the best state out of 50 when it comes to water conservation.

Millions of Americans have left blue states for red or purple ones. It’s time for companies to join the flood. Some have. But, it’s time for firms to exit. It’s also time for Atlas to shrug off states like California and go to states like Nevada.

You know what teaches politicians? Not having access to your money. Even losing elections doesn’t discipline them for long.

As a Nevadan, I can tell you it is nice here. No weather disasters. It’s relatively easy to build and get permits. Taxes are low. It’s easy to set up a private school if you are worried about education. I love the lack of humidity and the ability to enjoy the great outdoors 24/7 365 days a year. Las Vegas has a fantastic airport with the fastest baggage handlers in the world. There are mountains, and you can ski! The infrastructure is second to none.

But, at the very least, recharter your corporation in Nevada. I have been urging my friends on corporate boards to engage their board in discussion. I have encouraged businesses I am invested in to move. It’s time. The threat to your business is too great, and you have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. You might say if you run your business in California, Illinois, or NY, and charter your company in Delaware, it is financial malfeasance.

Marc Andreessen famously said, “It’s time to build”. It is awfully hard to build when the government has its hand in your pocket. He also wrote this manifesto.

a16z says,

Nevada has taken a different path, choosing instead to codify the business judgement rule in statute, eliminating the ability of judges to modify or change the rule. In addition, the Nevada legislature recently passed two measures that take significant steps toward upgrading its existing business courts into specialized venues to resolve complex commercial disputes. AB 239 provides for a waiver of jury trials in civil cases, while AJR 8 calls for the adoption of a constitutional amendment to permit the direct appointment of business court judges by the Governor, rather than through the current system of elections. Both measures passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the state Assembly and Senate, receiving the support of Nevada’s Republican Governor and Democratic Secretary of State, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Majority leader.

By codifying the business judgment rule in statute, Nevada has significantly limited this risk. A statutory business judgment rule limits judicial modification of the presumption, as demonstrated by the Nevada Supreme Court’s definitive ruling that this statutory standard exclusively governs director and officer liability, rather than subjective doctrines such as “entire fairness” (which Delaware courts have employed to weaken the presumption).

Nevada law, by default, permits broad protections against individual liability for officers and directors. Monetary damages are excluded if they result from any act or failure to act in a person’s capacity as an officer or director unless a plaintiff (i) rebuts a presumption that the officer or director acted in a good faith and informed manner and (ii) proves that the act or failure to act is a breach of a fiduciary duty involving intentional misconduct, fraud or a knowing violation of law. Given the legal risks that exist for directors of large and emerging companies alike, strong statutory protections are critical to ensuring our portfolio companies can attract the highest caliber directors.

Nevada provides only 15% or greater stockholders the right to inspect “books and records”, which significantly limits the ability for plaintiff lawyers to engage in fishing expeditions and bring frivolous lawsuits.

Nevada has a business court. All judges are elected in non-partisan elections to 6 year terms, and those who are designated to serve on the business courts are selected by the Chief Judge to ensure the requisite business background and judicial experience. By amending state law to permit the waiver of jury trials, Nevada has taken a significant step to ensure that business court judges, rather than uninformed lay juries, can resolve complex commercial disputes.

Read the whole thing at the above link. I excerpted.

Businesspeople are people of action. They aren’t opinion writers and grifters. They are producers. They create value. It’s time for them to act.

My X blew up yesterday. The fraud in Minnesota is appalling. I suggest you check out Power Line and County Highway for information. Even if you are a strong Democrat, you ought to be appalled. The level of fraud and theft is unparalleled.

The other issue blowing up my X is the proposed wealth tax in California. I thought that David Friedberg had a wonderful piece on his X stream here. Atlas isn’t shrugging anymore. For more information, read the hubris of Ro Khanna.

Peter Thiel is leaving California if we pass a 1% tax on billionaires for 5 years to pay for healthcare for the working class facing steep Medicaid cuts.

I echo what FDR said with sarcasm of economic royalists when they threatened to leave, "I will miss them very much."

And

My district is $18 trillion, nearly 1/3 of US stock market in a 50 mile radius. We have 5 companies with a market cap over a trillion dollar companies. If I can stand up for a billionaire tax, this is not a hard position for 434 other members or 100 Senators.

As if Ro was the creator of all that wealth……

I watched entrepreneurs I invested in exit companies and saw California take a significant portion of their exit. It disgusted me because the state did nothing to build the company. The state did nothing to take the risk.

Wealth taxes are stupid taxes. They aren’t serious, and the economic incentives that go along with them are horrible. Frankly, this idea is not going away. Elizabeth Warren and Bernie Sanders floated it long ago for the US. It’s just come back in a different form. Washington state is trying to preserve its “no income tax” moniker, but it is looking at all kinds of ways to tax income and wealth. States are laboratories, and the socialists are using them.

It’s the same with the financial transaction tax that rears its ugly head in NY and Illinois. They go away because of the stupidity, but the idea remains and comes back in another form.

This isn’t a single-state battle. It’s a nationwide battle. The fight is everywhere, not just fought in isolation.

I think Don Wilson said it correctly.

California is competing with 49 other states that don’t have a wealth tax. Whether one believes it’s a good or a bad policy (I think it’s a very bad policy), of course it will cause human capital to move to states that don’t have a wealth tax. I will take it one step further: anybody with a significant stake in a company who has a fiduciary duty to other shareholders of that company has a duty to move out of California in order to avoid pushing down the equity value from tax-driven sales. (bold mine)

Yes. It’s time. It’s time for the capitalists to flex their muscles. Don’t just sit there and take it.

It’s painful to move. I know. I did it. Move. There are plenty of other places in the US that would welcome you. You might desire change where you are now, but they aren’t going to change. They are going to dig in. They might relax for a second, but they will come back harder and in a new way.

In addition, activist judges have ruled in Delaware courts. You know about Tesla’s troubles. Tesla ($TSLA) moved out of Delaware and rechartered in a different state. Leading venture capital firm a16z wrote a great piece here on why they moved to Nevada.

Nevada isn’t a perfect fit for every company, but it is for a lot of them. Reno is a great place and a short drive from San Francisco. LA is a mere 4 hours to Las Vegas. Electricity is cheap. The sun shines. The state is starting to work on figuring out its dependency on California for fuel, and it is working on an ancient water negotiation that happened generations ago. Contrary to opinion, there is water, but the allocation isn’t favorable to Nevada right now. Nevada is the best state out of 50 when it comes to water conservation.

Millions of Americans have left blue states for red or purple ones. It’s time for companies to join the flood. Some have. But, it’s time for firms to exit. It’s also time for Atlas to shrug off states like California and go to states like Nevada.

You know what teaches politicians? Not having access to your money. Even losing elections doesn’t discipline them for long.

As a Nevadan, I can tell you it is nice here. No weather disasters. It’s relatively easy to build and get permits. Taxes are low. It’s easy to set up a private school if you are worried about education. I love the lack of humidity and the ability to enjoy the great outdoors 24/7 365 days a year. Las Vegas has a fantastic airport with the fastest baggage handlers in the world. There are mountains, and you can ski! The infrastructure is second to none.

But, at the very least, recharter your corporation in Nevada. I have been urging my friends on corporate boards to engage their board in discussion. I have encouraged businesses I am invested in to move. It’s time. The threat to your business is too great, and you have a fiduciary responsibility to shareholders. You might say if you run your business in California, Illinois, or NY, and charter your company in Delaware, it is financial malfeasance.

Marc Andreessen famously said, “It’s time to build”. It is awfully hard to build when the government has its hand in your pocket. He also wrote this manifesto.

a16z says,

Nevada has taken a different path, choosing instead to codify the business judgement rule in statute, eliminating the ability of judges to modify or change the rule. In addition, the Nevada legislature recently passed two measures that take significant steps toward upgrading its existing business courts into specialized venues to resolve complex commercial disputes. AB 239 provides for a waiver of jury trials in civil cases, while AJR 8 calls for the adoption of a constitutional amendment to permit the direct appointment of business court judges by the Governor, rather than through the current system of elections. Both measures passed with overwhelming bipartisan majorities in the state Assembly and Senate, receiving the support of Nevada’s Republican Governor and Democratic Secretary of State, Speaker of the Assembly, and Senate Majority leader.

By codifying the business judgment rule in statute, Nevada has significantly limited this risk. A statutory business judgment rule limits judicial modification of the presumption, as demonstrated by the Nevada Supreme Court’s definitive ruling that this statutory standard exclusively governs director and officer liability, rather than subjective doctrines such as “entire fairness” (which Delaware courts have employed to weaken the presumption).

Nevada law, by default, permits broad protections against individual liability for officers and directors. Monetary damages are excluded if they result from any act or failure to act in a person’s capacity as an officer or director unless a plaintiff (i) rebuts a presumption that the officer or director acted in a good faith and informed manner and (ii) proves that the act or failure to act is a breach of a fiduciary duty involving intentional misconduct, fraud or a knowing violation of law. Given the legal risks that exist for directors of large and emerging companies alike, strong statutory protections are critical to ensuring our portfolio companies can attract the highest caliber directors.

Nevada provides only 15% or greater stockholders the right to inspect “books and records”, which significantly limits the ability for plaintiff lawyers to engage in fishing expeditions and bring frivolous lawsuits.

Nevada has a business court. All judges are elected in non-partisan elections to 6 year terms, and those who are designated to serve on the business courts are selected by the Chief Judge to ensure the requisite business background and judicial experience. By amending state law to permit the waiver of jury trials, Nevada has taken a significant step to ensure that business court judges, rather than uninformed lay juries, can resolve complex commercial disputes.

Read the whole thing at the above link. I excerpted.

Businesspeople are people of action. They aren’t opinion writers and grifters. They are producers. They create value. It’s time for them to act.