Tech founders fleeing California appear to have found a new place for their ‘billionaire bunker’. Nestled along the scenic shores of Lake Tahoe, Incline Village has long been known as a picturesque mountain enclave of about 9,300 residents. Defined by alpine views and glimmering water, the quiet town is reportedly undergoing a transformation driven by an influx of some of the world’s wealthiest people. Tech titans and ultra-wealthy elites like Google co-founder Sergey Brin and co-founder of software giant Oracle are settling in this Nevada town – just outside California.
According to a report by Bloomberg, Incline Village has always been a holiday destination but it is currently witnessing a massive luxury real estate surge for a more strategic reason: securing a tax-friendly Nevada address as tech titans and ultra-wealthy elites opposing California tax are purchasing properties in the area.
Landing the ‘Whales’ of Silicon Valley
The report said that the local housing market is changing under the weight of these multi-million dollar acquisitions. Real estate data shows that single-family home sales in the area soared to roughly $232 million in the first quarter of 2026, compared with a mere $30.6 million during the exact same period in 2025. Larry Ellison reportedly owns a sprawling, wooded luxury estate in the area while Sergey Brin has been linked to a premium $42 million mansion. Steve Jurvetson, who is a prominent venture capitalist and SpaceX investor, is tied to a staggering $125 million compound that recently shattered regional real estate price records.
Local real estate agents describe the sudden influx as a historic anomaly. Tim Lampe of Lakeshore Realty said: “I liken it to a school of fish swimming by... all of a sudden you get eight fish and then nothing for two years. Right now, we’re definitely on a high-end pulse. Except they’re not fish, they’re whales.”
Fleeing California’s Looming ‘Billionaire Tax’
The primary catalyst for this migration is a fiscal battle happening right across the border. Nevada enforces a strict no-income-tax policy, making it the perfect escape route as California prepares to vote on its controversial 2026 Billionaire Tax Act this November.
The proposed California measure would place a one-time 5% wealth tax on the state’s roughly 200 billionaires, which can be paid out in installments over five years. Drafted to plug a massive healthcare funding gap left by President Donald Trump’s federal cuts, the tax is projected to raise $100 billion. Google's Sergey Brin has poured $57 million into a nonprofit opposing the wealth tax and criticised the bill previously. “I fled socialism with my family in 1979 and know the devastating, oppressive society it created in the Soviet Union. I don’t want California to end up in the same place,” Brin said in a statement to The New York Times.
