‘They’ve Awakened Him’: How a Wealth Tax Fight Made Brin a Political Force
20th October 2026
Sergey Brin once called government a “giant bonfire of partisanship” and spent years on the political sidelines. But in recent months, the Google co-founder has emerged as a political force in California, pouring unprecedented sums into the fight to defeat a proposed tax on billionaires.
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“Brin could have easily just run a No campaign and defeated [Prop 40], but he built a whole organization,” said Brandon Castillo, a veteran ballot measures consultant who is not working on either side of the wealth tax campaign. “They’ve awakened him. He wants to be a political player.”
Brin has learned the Microsoft Lesson: Those who ignore politics are doomed to be buggered by those who don’t.