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Capital exodus? As a so-called “billionaire tax” looms in California, the firms of two high-profile California investors announced on New Year’s Eve they are establishing new offices out of state, The Wall Street Journal reports. Despite the timing, no mention was made of the proposed ballot initiative from a California health care union that would impose a one-time, 5% tax on the assets of those with net worths above $1 billion who lived in the state as of New Year’s Day. The tax would apply to assets like stocks, artwork and intellectual property rights, rather than income, and billionaires would have five years to pay. The Wall Street Journal has the full story. A subscription may be required.
Selling high: Mega-cap technology companies drove an outsized share of U.S. stock market gains in 2025, Bloomberg reports — and their executives captured an equally large share of insider selling, with billionaire founders, CEOs and directors taking more than $16 billion off the table. The largest sale came from Jeff Bezos, who sold 25 million shares of Amazon.com Inc. for $5.7 billion. The AI-fueled rally also boosted executives such as Jayshree Ullal of Arista Networks Inc., who sold nearly $1 billion in stock. Most top sellers used prearranged 10b5-1 trading plans, according to The Washington Service, which tracks insider activity. Bloomberg has the full story. A subscription may be required.
Talent war wages: The Wall Street Journal reports OpenAI is offering its employees unprecedented stock-based compensation, with average equity awards of about $1.5 million per person across its roughly 4,000-employee workforce — a level higher than that of any major tech startup in recent history, according to data the company shared with investors and The Wall Street Journal. Those equity packages are more than seven times larger than what Google offered before its 2004 IPO and roughly 34 times the typical pre-IPO compensation at 18 other major tech firms, adjusted for inflation. The generous pay reflects intense competition for elite AI talent. The Wall Street Journal has the full story. A subscription may be required.
