Sergey Brin, co-founder of Google and a billionaire, recently broke his silence regarding California’s proposed tax on billionaires. Drawing on his experiences growing up in the Soviet Union, Brin shared new insights into a tense encounter with Governor Gavin Newsom and Newsom’s girlfriend, who is known for her pro-Trump stance.
With a fortune estimated at $270 billion, Brin addressed his family’s past under a socialist regime to criticize the billionaire tax, which has secured a spot on the November ballot after supporters collected 1.6 million signatures.
“In 1979, my family and I escaped socialism, having witnessed firsthand the destructive and oppressive environment it fostered in the Soviet Union,” Brin expressed to the New York Times.
“I am concerned that California might head down a similar path.”
Over the weekend, reports surfaced that Brin directly confronted Newsom, who stands against the billionaire tax, during a holiday event at the home of billionaire Ripple chairman Chris Larsen.
Brin, maintaining a long-standing friendship with Newsom, reportedly took the governor aside at the Marin County gathering to express his strong opposition to the billionaire tax, according to the newspaper.
Brin’s girlfriend of two years, Gerelyn Gilbert-Soto, was reportedly at the center of a dramatic holiday confrontation — arguing the tax would kill the economy but also joking that she could forgive Newsom’s bad policies because he is “handsome.”
The California governor later complained that the couple gave him a “lingering cold,” per Bloomberg.
Brin was born in Moscow, Russia in 1973 and fled to the United States at the age of six.
The billionaire tax could leave Brin, whose estimated net worth is about $270 billion, with a $13 billion tax bill.
Gilbert-Soto, a MAGA-friendly wellness influencer who promotes gut health, yoga, self-care and “clean meat” on her 13,000-follower Instagram account, reportedly tried to defuse the tense exchange with Newsom, per the New York Times.
The tech titan has spent at least $57 million fighting the proposed tax, bankrolling a group called Building a Better California alongside a cadre of Silicon Valley venture capitalists and entrepreneurs.
Along with Peter Thiel, Larry Page and other billionaires, Brin has reduced his assets in California since the tax was first proposed, moving to a $42 million Lake Tahoe chalet to escape the levy.
Gilbert-Soto has called Trump her “bestie” and owns a clutch purse emblazoned with the president’s name, the New York Times reported.
The influencer bills herself as a holistic health coach and often flaunts her “obtainable” self-care routine on a luxury yacht, snapping pics of her toned physique in designer-packed closets and at a lavish home gym.
Her daily eats include eggs with caviar-topped rice cake for breakfast — which she’s claimed are “good for you.”
Brin has been dating the wellness influencer since at least March 2024, according to reports.
The billionaire’s opinionated former flames include Nicole Shanahan, a MAHA booster who was Robert F. Kennedy, Jr’s running mate in his failed 2024 presidential bid.
He was previously married to Anne Wojcicki, founder of 23andMe.
