Uber co-founder Travis Kalanick said he moved to Austin just weeks before a California wealth tax could take effect.
Kalanick moved to Texas on December 18 and became a resident of the Lone Star State, he announced on the business podcast TBPN on March 13. While his official move is more recent, he has owned a property on Lake Austin – roughly 20 minutes from the city – for nearly five years, according to the Houston Chronicle.
FULL INTERVIEW: @travisk joins TBPN to discuss his new company Atoms, physical AI, Uber, and more:
01:18 – Why he's been building in stealth for 8 years
04:32 – Atoms and the future of physical AI
08:10 – Creating a culture of builders
12:05 – Lessons from Uber
24:30 – The… pic.twitter.com/ZJd0jbUCwn— TBPN (@tbpn) March 13, 2026
“Just to be clear, on December 18, I moved to Texas,” he said in the interview, as Fox Business reported. “I don’t know what’s so specific about December 18, but let’s just say it’s prior to January.”
His move came just weeks before a proposed California wealth tax could begin collecting a one-time 5% tax on billionaires, effective January 1 this year, according to Ballotpedia.
The measure is headed for the ballot on November 3, 2026, and the tax would be due in 2027 – potentially payable in five installments.
Under this tax, Kalanick could potentially owe roughly $180 million, as Fox Business reported.
Kalanick is worth $3.6 billion, according to Forbes. He co-founded Uber in 2009, and his net worth climbed to $6.3 billion in 2017. He stepped down as CEO that year, amid allegations of what The BBC called “sexual harassment” and “macho culture.” Kalanick ultimately left the board in 2019.
Across Austin, Uber partners with Waymo to offer rides in fully autonomous, self-driving Jaguar sedans.
As The Dallas Express reported, one viral video showed a Waymo blocking an ambulance responding to the deadly 6th Street shooting in downtown Austin on March 1. A police officer ultimately jumped in the vehicle to move it out of the way.
Earlier this year, as DX also reported, the National Transportation Safety Board launched an investigation after videos captured Waymo’s speeding past stopped school buses in Austin.
