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Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen and venture capitalist Tim Draper have pledged approximately $40 million to oppose California’s proposed wealth tax, launching a political action group aimed at electing business-friendly candidates in state legislative races.
The effort, operating under the name Grow California, represents one of the cryptocurrency industry’s largest forays into state-level politics and comes as a union-backed ballot measure threatens to impose new taxes on the state’s wealthiest residents.
The proposed California wealth tax, backed by a healthcare workers’ union, has become a flashpoint among Silicon Valley donors increasingly concerned about the state’s policy direction.
If approved by voters, the measure would impose taxes on the assets of California’s wealthiest residents, a move supporters argue would help fund public services but critics warn could drive investment and high-net-worth individuals out of the state.
Although Larsen and Draper maintain that Grow California was seeded before the wealth tax proposal formally emerged, the initiative has quickly aligned itself as a counterforce. According to The New York Times, the group’s central objective is to dilute union influence in Sacramento by supporting candidates it views as pragmatic and economically growth-oriented.
Larsen, a longtime Democratic donor with an estimated net worth nearing $15 billion, has been particularly vocal about what he sees as an imbalance of power. “The government unions do a great job,” Chris Larsen, Co-founder, Ripple.
He added that union priorities “are going to clash with a lot of the things that are going to make California successful if there’s no counterforce,” Chris Larsen, Co-founder, Ripple.
These remarks underscore how the California wealth tax has crystallized broader concerns among tech leaders about governance, competitiveness, and fiscal policy in the nation’s most populous state.
Grow California’s financial firepower is substantial. Campaign finance filings expected to be submitted show that Larsen and Draper each contributed $5 million to launch the group last September. Since then, the organization says it has secured approximately $40 million in commitments across independent expenditure committees and affiliated nonprofit entities.
Larsen has indicated that his personal contributions could reach as much as $30 million over multiple election cycles, signaling a long-term strategy rather than a one-off campaign. The funding is expected to be deployed selectively, with Grow California focusing on a limited number of competitive state legislative races rather than spreading resources broadly.
California Democrats currently control more than two-thirds of the seats in both chambers of the Legislature, and labor unions often act as decisive gatekeepers in closely contested primaries. By targeting these races, Grow California hopes to chip away at what it views as entrenched interests shaping policy outcomes, including those advancing the California wealth tax.
Notably, the group has said it will avoid the 2026 gubernatorial race and stay out of costly ballot proposition campaigns, opting instead for a narrower legislative strategy designed to influence policy debates from within the Capitol.
Larsen has reportedly pointed to recent federal election cycles as evidence that sustained political spending can alter outcomes. He cited lessons from Fairshake, a crypto-backed super PAC that invested heavily in U.S. congressional races, as a model for Grow California’s approach.
Fairshake disclosed this week that it is holding $193 million in cash, fueled by major contributions from Ripple Labs, Andreessen Horowitz, and Coinbase. The PAC said its reserves grew sharply after mid-2025, following more than $130 million spent on media buys during the 2024 federal elections.
While Fairshake operates at the national level, Grow California is focused squarely on state politics, where debates over the California wealth tax and union-backed initiatives are expected to intensify. The strategy reflects a broader trend of crypto and technology leaders seeking to assert influence not only in Washington but also in statehouses where fiscal and regulatory decisions are often first tested.
The clash over the California wealth tax highlights deeper tensions between organized labor and segments of the technology and crypto sectors. Supporters of the tax argue it would promote fairness and fund critical services, while opponents contend it risks undermining economic growth and accelerating capital flight.
For Larsen and Draper, Grow California represents an attempt to recalibrate the political balance rather than dismantle labor influence entirely. Still, the scale of funding involved suggests that the California wealth tax could become one of the most consequential policy battles in the state’s recent history.
As election cycles approach and campaign spending ramps up, the effort by crypto billionaires to counter union-backed proposals will likely draw increased scrutiny.
Whether Grow California succeeds in reshaping legislative dynamics remains uncertain, but its emergence ensures that the debate over the California wealth tax and who ultimately shapes California’s economic future will remain firmly in the political spotlight.
