Stanford Law Alum Darien Shanske on Wealth, Fairness, and California’s Proposed Billionaire Tax

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On this episode of Stanford Legal, host Professor Richard Thompson Ford talks taxes with Darien Shanske, JD '06, a UC Davis law professor and visiting professor at Stanford Law, who helped draft California’s proposed Billionaire Tax Act, which supporters hope to place on the November 2026 ballot. Shanske explains why he believes critics have often attacked a distorted version of the proposal, not the measure itself: a one-time 5% tax on net worth above $1 billion, payable over five years, aimed at helping California respond to widening wealth inequality and cuts to the social safety net. The conversation explores the legal design of the measure, the politics surrounding it, and the larger questions it raises about tax fairness, concentrated wealth, and what tools states should have when public needs are acute.

 

Links:

• Darien Shanske >>> Stanford Law page

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• Episode Transcripts >>> Stanford Legal Podcast Website
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• Rich Ford >>>  Twitter/X
• Pam Karlan >>> Stanford Law School Page
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(00:00:32) Origins of the Billionaire Tax

(00:05:28) Why a Wealth Tax? 

(00:12:07) Will Billionaires Flee? 

(00:19:06) Legal Challenges, Residency, and Retroactivity 

(00:26:48) The National Picture 

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