Revolt of the Billionaires

Revolt of the Billionaires

From Central Air by Josh Barro, Megan McArdle & Ben Dreyfuss

March 11, 2026 · 1h 14m

About this episode

The episode discusses the potential exodus of billionaires from California due to a proposed wealth tax, featuring guest Mike Solana.

On this week's show: Mike Solana of Pirate Wires joins us to talk about Silicon Valley. He’s been talking with lots of billionaires who are taking steps to exit California in anticipation of a proposed wealth tax. We discuss how credible those threats are, and what makes the wealth tax different from prior soak-the-rich tax proposals. Plus: the alleged “Gay Tech Mafia,” of which Wired magazine says Mike is a member, the gyrating price of oil, and the outrage over Timothée Chalamet saying “no one cares” about ballet or opera . Sign up for updates from Central Air at www.centralairpodcast.com This is a public episode. If you'd like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.centralairpodcast.com/subscribe

People in this episode

Hosts: Josh Barro, Megan McArdle, Ben Dreyfuss

Guest: Mike Solana

Topics covered

  • Silicon Valley
  • wealth tax
  • billionaires
  • California
  • cultural commentary

Keywords

  • billionaires
  • wealth tax
  • California
  • Silicon Valley
  • Timothée Chalamet
  • Gay Tech Mafia
  • oil prices

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: Pirate Wires, Wired

Places: California

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