Story perspectives

Billionaires defeat CEO pay tax, Prop D fails

6/9/2026

Summary

Story summary

Billionaire donors Chris Larsen and Sergey Brin financed the campaign that defeated San Francisco’s Proposition D, the Overpaid CEO Act, on June 2, 2026.
Proposition D would have added roughly $250 million a year to city revenue by taxing firms whose chief executive earned at least one hundred times the median employee.
Mayor Daniel Lurie opposed Proposition D.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Proposition C, which would lock in reduced business tax rates, also failed to win voter approval.

History

Historical Context

Following the 2008 crisis, Congress enacted the Dodd-Frank Act in July 2010, signed by President Barack Obama, which required the SEC to disclose CEO-to-median-worker pay ratios. About 1,500 firms reported CEOs earning roughly 320 times the median wage, up from 275 times in 2007. In June 2026, San Francisco voters, supported by Chris Larsen and Sergey Brin, rejected Proposition D’s 100-times-median CEO-pay tax.

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Story summary

Billionaire donors Chris Larsen and Sergey Brin financed the campaign that defeated San Francisco’s Proposition D, the Overpaid CEO Act, on June 2, 2026.
Proposition D would have added roughly $250 million a year to city revenue by taxing firms whose chief executive earned at least one hundred times the median employee.
Mayor Daniel Lurie opposed Proposition D.
The Chamber of Commerce’s Proposition C, which would lock in reduced business tax rates, also failed to win voter approval.

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