Former Los Angeles mayoral candidate and billionaire Rick Caruso revealed that California’s proposed billionaire tax nearly drove him out of the state.

Caruso, one of the city’s most prominent developers and philanthropists, exclusively told the California Post that he enlisted lawyers and financial advisers to explore a Golden State exodus.

“Given the financial impact, you have to at least think about that,” the LA native said. “You have to at least consider it.”

The real estate mogul, whose empire includes The Grove and the Rosewood Miramar Beach resort, weighed moving to Austin, Texas, or Florida’s Miami, Coconut Grove and Palm Beach as the proposed tax threatened to take a massive bite out of his wealth.

“We were working with our lawyers and consultants on figuring out exactly what the impact was going to be on the business and the family,” he said.

Caruso began exploring his options earlier this year as Proposition 40, which would impose a one-time 5% tax on California billionaires, gained momentum.

As of Saturday morning, 53.7% of voters opposed the measure compared with 46.2% supporting it, with roughly 72% of the estimated vote counted, according to the latest results.

The proposal promised tens of billions of dollars for healthcare, education and food assistance in the state, but opponents warned that driving wealthy taxpayers out could ultimately cost California more than the tax would generate.

Some billionaires have already headed for the exits.

An October study by economists Benjamin Jaros and Joshua Rauh identified seven billionaires who had publicly relocated, representing approximately $540 billion in wealth, or nearly 30% of the potential tax base.

Among them were Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, and venture capitalist Peter Thiel.

The study estimated that California billionaires collectively pay between $3.3 billion and $5.8 billion annually in state income taxes, raising concerns that departures could eventually undermine the projected $28 billion to $36 billion tax windfall.

Despite seriously exploring his own departure, Caruso said he ultimately decided that no potential tax savings could outweigh what mattered most.

“My wife and I couldn’t imagine waking up and not having our family,” he said.

“In the end we decided that if we have to pay a big tax, we’ll pay the big tax, but we have our family.”

Still, the billionaire warned that the proposition risks losing far more than the fortunes of California’s wealthiest residents.

“The problem is when a couple hundred billionaires leave, what also leaves is businesses, their teams, their management, their staff, their employees, but most of all their philanthropy,” Caruso said.

“All of a sudden their philanthropy goes to a different city where now they’re living.”

Caruso’s sprawling business empire and charitable giving illustrate the economic stakes.

His portfolio includes The Americana at Brand, Palisades Village and The Commons at Calabasas, with four Southern California construction projects currently underway.

“We’re creating not only a lot of construction jobs, but we’re creating a lot of operating jobs,” he said.

Through their family foundation, established in 1991, Caruso and his wife Tina have poured millions into education, healthcare and underserved communities, including a $50 million gift to Pepperdine University’s law school.

The couple has also donated more than $50 million to the University of Southern California, including $25 million for hearing-loss research and treatment. They also gave $5 million to launch Operation Progress for disadvantaged students in Watts and more than $3 million to Para Los Niños, which serves vulnerable Los Angeles families.

Following the devastating January 2025 wildfires, Caruso launched Steadfast LA to accelerate rebuilding in Pacific Palisades and Altadena.

The nonprofit reported distributing $525,000 in small-business recovery grants, while Caruso and his wife committed $5 million toward supporting the Los Angeles Fire Department.

With Proposition 40 facing defeat and Proposition 42 — which would 𝘬iᩚll the billionaires tax — poised to pass, Caruso said he sees an opportunity to reverse the exodus.

“The combination of Prop 40 failing and Prop 42 winning is really a great package to incentivize people coming to California and staying in California,” he said.