Tania Mirchandani joins Northern Trust as a Wealth Strategist where she will cultivate new relationships and serve as a trusted advisor to individuals and families. She brings 20+ years of experience working with ultra high net worth clients and will provide best‑in‑class investment management, trust, banking and advisory solutions.

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The notion of the state raising $100 billion by a one-time, 5% tax on billionaires’ wealth may seem like a clear and simple way to offset an expected state revenue shortfall of roughly that amount. But it brings to mind the old H.L. Mencken quote: “For every complex problem there is a solution that is clear, simple and wrong.”

Why would this be so wrong? Let’s start with the fact that the tax, as envisioned, would be far more onerous than the supporters are letting on. They blithely wave off concerns and declare that billionaires can surely afford it. But this would be no ordinary tax. This would be a wealth tax, a 5% assessment on billionaires’ net worth, not on their income. Proponents like to confuse that difference.

Here’s a simplified example of a middle-class taxpayer: If you have income of $100,000 a year, a one-time 5% income tax would cost you $5,000. You’d grumble but probably write a check for it. But if you had assets of $1 million – a bank account, 401(k) accounts, a really nice stamp collection – a 5% wealth tax would cost you $50,000. Most middle-class people could not write that check.

Believe it or not, the same is true of billionaires. Except they would face a bill that runs to at least $50 million and quite possibly into the billions.

“The vast majority of billionaires are not able to write that check,” said Chris Mays, the Los Angeles-based national leader of the family office practice at Armanino and who works with billionaires and other very wealthy clients.

Like the middle-class person in the example above, billionaires may technically have the wealth to pay the bill, but they don’t have the liquidity. That means, for example, many billionaire real estate folks may have to sell properties. Or company founders would have to sell their stock, Mays said, which means “they reduce control of their company, which is untenable to them.”

The tax supporters may point out that the billionaires would have up to five years to pay the tax, which would be a help. But when they face such immense bills – Peter Thiel could have to pay $1.3 billion and Rick Caruso nearly $300 million, based on Forbes’ estimates of their wealth – they still likely would need to sell stock or properties or something.

Here’s something else they could do: They could leave California.

I know, I know. Whenever there’s a new tax or big regulation, wealthy people and businesses always threaten to leave but usually don’t. But remember, this tax – this wealth tax – is different.

Want evidence? We’re already seeing news accounts saying that billionaires including Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin appear to be buying palatial homes in the income-tax-free state of Florida. David Sacks, the San Francisco founder of venture capital company Craft Ventures and White House adviser on cryptocurrency, moved to the income-tax-free state of Texas in December. The aforementioned Thiel recently set up an office in Florida, pointedly saying that he already has a second home in that state.

By the way, my news outlet, the Billionaire Reporter, recently ranked the wealthiest 15 billionaires in Florida and discovered that 14 of those 15 moved to the Sunshine State in the last 10 years or so when they were already billionaires or well on their way to attaining the three-comma status. All 14 fled high-tax states including California. So that belief – the one which posits that high taxes don’t prompt billionaires to move – may need a rethink.

And what would happen to California if billionaires – not all of them, just some – left the state? Local philanthropic giving would surely decline, and civic leadership would suffer. Most worrisome: the dynamic Los Angeles and Silicon Valley economies powered by tech businesses and startup ecocultures would certainly dwindle. As the aforementioned Sacks recently tweeted, “Miami will replace NYC as the finance capital and Austin will replace SF as the tech capital.”

Here’s another thing: The billionaire tax will not raise nearly as much money as the proponents claim.

Let’s do some back-of-the-envelope math. (If you hate math, skip the next four paragraphs.) If 20% of billionaires leave – or, more precisely, if the billionaires who account for 20% of all billionaires’ wealth leave – it automatically means the $100 billion tax haul would be reduced to $80 billion.

But there’s double whammy. The state would also lose a future chunk of regular income taxes. A recent Pacific Research Institute study suggests billionaires will pay $30 billion in income taxes in the 2025-26 fiscal year. (They pay 23% of the state’s expected total of $130 billion, it estimates.) If you deduct 20% from the $30 billion each year over 5 years, because the billionaire tax has a five-year span, the state will lose $30 billion in taxes that would have been paid by the former California billionaires who will then be line dancing in an Austin honky tonk.

So, $80 billion in billionaire tax income minus the $30 billion in lost income leaves us with a net of $50 billion. I’m no math whiz, but isn’t that half of what the proponents claim the state will get?

If you do the same calculation assuming that 30% of the billionaire wealth leaves, the state will net only $25 billion after five years. And don’t forget that the reduced income tax level will stay with us and hex state finances for years.

(Angelenos know the hoax of inflated tax expectations. Proponents promised that the so-called mansion tax or Measure ULA that went into effect in 2023 that taxed high-value property transactions would raise $600 million to $1.1 billion a year. It only raised $215 million in its first year.)

Proponents will argue that the billionaires may leave the state, but they can’t escape the one-time wealth tax because the proposal says any billionaire who lived in California as of Jan. 1, 2026, will have to pay. (Which may explain why Sacks and the others moved before Jan. 1.) But that provision is questionable on its face and already getting pushback from legal types. And come on, now, you have to believe that billionaires with their vast resources will attack that provision endlessly.

Wealth taxes have been tried a few times but generally flopped. Germany’s wealth tax was declared unconstitutional in 1997, and the Netherlands repealed its wealth tax in 2021 after legal and economic challenges. Even Gov. Gavin Newsom recognizes the harm it would inflict on the state.

Like it or not, California needs billionaires. They provide jobs, create businesses and pay that outsized 23% percent of the state’s income tax.

It would be spectacularly wrong to chase them out of California.

Charles Crumpley is the editor-in-chief of the Billionaire Reporter. He is the former editor-in-chief of the Los Angeles Business Journal.

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10 Financial Planning Tips to Start the New Year

Create a framework for decision making

As your life evolves, so too should your approach to managing your wealth. Setting a clear framework for consistent decision-making – across areas such as investments, spending and gifting – can help you stay aligned with your long-term vision, even though circumstances may have changed.

Organize your accounts and estate planning

Review your estate plan, starting with the names of account owners and beneficiaries. Double-check life insurance policies and retirement accounts to make sure the beneficiaries named reflect your current wishes.

Complete 2026 annual “to-dos”

Fully fund your retirement accounts, such as IRAs and 401(k) accounts, to take advantage of the tax-deferral benefits they provide.

Optimize for lower interest rates

With interest rates already lower than they were a year ago, and additional rate cuts expected in 2026, it’s important to align your portfolio and planning accordingly.

Renew your portfolio’s resilience

We believe 2026 provides a constructive backdrop for markets. We expect solid returns for multi-asset portfolios and are focused on helping clients in key areas.

Prioritize the principles of tax-aware wealth management

It’s important to take a holistic approach to your tax strategy. Thoughtfully considering how your assets are structured, how you invest and withdraw funds and how you integrate planning techniques can help you maximize after-tax returns and keep more of what you earn.

Consider making substantial gifts to family

Gifting wealth to future generations can offer strategic benefits, as the future appreciation on these assets should not be subject to estate tax in your estate.

Develop a charitable giving strategy

Effective philanthropy starts with having sound investment and tax-planning strategies along with a clear vision for the impact you want to make.

Strengthen family ties

Family meetings are an effective way for members to build cohesiveness, share individual and family values and learn from each other.

Protect your identity in an AI-driven world

As artificial intellgence apps and digital tools proliferate, it’s critical to understand the threat they pose to personal data, privacy and identity. Keep in mind: Sensitive or private information can inadvertently be exposed or used to train large language models that support AI.

Rick Barragan is the Managing Director,
Los Angeles Market Manager, for
J.P. Morgan Private Bank.
r.barragan@jpmorgan.com | (310) 860-3658
privatebank.jpmorgan.com/los-angeles

Source: “10 financial planning tips to start the new year” Sarah Backer Lyons, Senior Associate, Wealth Planning and Innovation, Jan. 15, 2026

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Thomas Gernon
ONCOLOGY
Associate Clinical Professor,
Department of Surgery
City of Hope

Dr. Thomas J. Gernon is a distinguished head and neck surgeon whose career accomplishments reflect both clinical excellence and visionary leadership. His work has transformed patient care, advanced surgical innovation, and built programs that continue to impact cancer treatment nationwide. Dr. Gernon has continued to distinguish himself as an associate clinical professor and head and neck surgeon specializing in HPV-related malignancies, thyroid tumors, salivary tumors, and microvascular reconstruction. His clinical mastery in transoral robotic and laser surgery places him at the forefront of minimally invasive techniques.

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Sahir Gharib
FAMILY MEDICINE
Family Medicine
PIH Health

Sahir Gharib, MD is a family medicine physician with a subspecialty in sports medicine. He completed his fellowship training in sports medicine at LSU, where he focused on orthopedic care and the use of ultrasound for diagnostic and interventional procedures. Dr. Gharib has worked with athletes at the high school, collegiate, and professional levels, gaining extensive experience in injury prevention, rehabilitation, and performance optimization. Dr. Gharib finds it rewarding to see patients regain function and experience relief from pain following treatment. He approaches each patient interaction with attentiveness and compassion.

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For a long time, large REITs and pension funds drove ambitious adaptive reuse and ground-up office and mixed use developments across the city, but that momentum has slowed for some time now. Rising interest rates, higher costs and slower leasing have kept many institutional investors on the sidelines waiting for the market to turn. Stepping in are private equity firms and other non-institutional investors, including family-owned businesses or tenant-owners in some cases, who are taking a more hands-on role.

The way commercial building projects are moving forward has also changed. Instead of committing to full-scale transformations immediately, many investors prefer phased delivery that spreads out risk. These smaller steps allow them to adjust as conditions change, whether that be tenant demand, financing or construction costs. This approach puts more emphasis on collaboration that often requires the architect and construction team to serve as advisers, helping balance what can be done now with what makes sense long-term.

Adaptive reuse is where this trend is most apparent. As a premier example, Mother LA in West Adams was designed around the needs of one client from the very beginning, rather than renovating a spec space and hoping a tenant would come. Improvements were phased in-step with the client’s growth, ensuring each dollar spent (TI or otherwise) had a true purpose. This model has proven more resilient than speculative upgrades in today’s climate.

Phased work also addresses the everyday challenges of keeping businesses running during construction. By working in smaller phases, companies are able to keep operations on track while still moving toward a master plan. This is an approach usually seen on the spec side, but architects are now doing it with tenants to maximize the investments from all sides. These kinds of logistics may not be visible from the outside, but they often determine whether or not a project succeeds.

Why rent when you can own?

Another shift is that tenants are buying buildings instead of leasing them. For many, this comes down to control. Rising interest rates and the cost of borrowing are part of the equation, but so is the desire for stability and control. In some cases, buying has been easier than leasing when prices made the decision more practical. Ownership also allows tenants to invest in upgrades with confidence that their efforts will last.

For the spec work that is still moving forward, identity has, in fact, become one of the main drivers in Los Angeles’ office market. Each neighborhood calls for a different strategy. The repositioning approach in Beverly Hills’ Golden Triangle, for instance, will differ greatly from what appeals to law firms in Century City or tech companies in El Segundo. Design details – from art and materials to amenities and spatial programming – are tailored to the tenants who define each area’s character and culture.

Streetscape activation is another important repositioning strategy, especially in neighborhoods with limited room for expansion. Starpoint, for example, has put forward plans to convert a portion of 450 N. Roxbury’s existing parking garage into boutique retail space to appeal to luxury brands looking for a Beverly Hills address. Similarly, the ongoing phased repositioning at 888 S. Figueroa in downtown Los Angeles shows how incremental upgrades can breathe new life into existing assets for both tenants and the surrounding community: Phase 1 refreshed corridors and restrooms, Phase 2 reactivated the building’s street presence with the addition of Couplet Coffee and an impressive new lobby, and Phase 3 adds a rooftop deck to extend usable tenant space.

The market is also seeing supply removed from the market in some areas. Culver City, for example, recently upzoned some neighborhoods to introduce more housing, so plans for one office project pivoted completely to residential. The takeaway is that there’s no single formula: What works in one submarket won’t necessarily work in another.

Create a comfortable environment

Regardless of location, however, wellness and sustainability features are requirements in nearly every project. Tenants consistently ask for better daylight, air quality and comfort as part of attracting and retaining employees. At 9595 Wilshire, smart glass was added to improve comfort and reduce energy use. Mother LA emphasizes creative reuse and phased improvements tailored to local tenants. These features are now seen as must-haves, not extras, and they often influence which buildings lease up and which sit vacant.

For landlords, the challenge lies in deciding where to invest. With leasing velocity still slow, speculative amenity packages risk over-investment. Capital improvements have to be tied directly to tenant demand, long-term value and resiliency. Projects that strengthen operational efficiency, lower energy use and maintain flexibility against market fluctuations are proving the most future-ready. This is why engaging design and construction teams early in projects matters. Phased plans, clear priorities and targeted upgrades help avoid wasted spending while creating offices people want to be in.

Together, these changes show that Los Angeles is moving away from a one-size fits-all model of office development. The city’s future will be defined by three things: flexibility, identity and partnership. Flexibility allows projects to adjust to financing, scheduling and hybrid work needs. Identity ensures buildings reflect their tenants and stand out in a saturated market. Partnership between landlords, tenants, investors and architects makes it possible to deliver projects that work in a cautious economy.

Los Angeles has always been a metropolis of reinvention, and its offices are no different. By focusing on these three things, the market can adapt to today’s challenges and position itself for long-term success.

Sejal Sonani is a managing partner at HLW, a design firm based in New York. She oversees the company’s Los Angeles and San Francisco operations.

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Ruby Gonzalez
FAMILY MEDICINE
Medical Director, Emanate Health
Primary Care in Glendora
Emanate Health

Ruby Gonzalez, MD, MPH, DABFM, DABOM is an experienced and accomplished family medicine physician who has been in practice for over a decade. Dr. Gonzalez is the medical director of the Emanate Health Primary Care in Glendora as well as service line medical director for Primary Care. She is a leader among primary care physicians in this community. Dr. Gonzalez plays a key role in the health of the million people Emanate serves in the San Gabriel Valley region. She has extensive experience in policies and procedures, quality improvement, workflows and patient satisfaction.

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O. Joe Hines
HEPATOBILIARY/PANCREATIC SURGERY
Executive Medical Director,
Department of Surgery at UCLA Health;
William P. Longmire, Jr. Chair in Surgery; Surgeon-in-Chief, Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA

O. Joe Hines, MD, FACS, is nationally recognized for his expertise in pancreatic surgery, complex abdominal procedures, and advanced laparoscopic techniques. Dr. Hines leads a team of more than 160 surgeons and 120 trainees providing care across multiple UCLA Health sites in Southern California. Dr. Hines directs a robust research program on pancreatic carcinogenesis, with a particular focus on the impact of diet in cancer development.

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The firm, which was founded in 2024, hired Gene Kim as executive vice president of commercial real estate strategies in October to help spearhead this initiative, officially announced earlier this month.

Working with manufactured housing developers, operators and investors, Ascent will offer construction, bridge and term financing solutions, noting an uptick in demand for these services.

“Our country has an affordable housing crisis that I think has been very well documented and that most people are aware of,” Kim said. “And manufactured housing is really the most practical and viable solution… It is a perfect means to provide home ownership to working class families.”

As part of its strategy, Ascent will be partnering with the same borrowers and sponsors consistently on multiple projects as opposed to one-off deals, Kim said.

While a big focus for these projects will be affordable workforce housing, Kim said manufactured housing also lends itself well to “age restricted, retirement focused, lifestyle-oriented and active adult communities.”

Target markets

As of now, Ascent is focusing this lending product on Texas, Florida and the Southeast. The team recently financed the acquisition of a San Antonio site slated to host 400 manufactured homes. While Kim said he could not disclose the loan size on this deal, he provided general estimates of what Ascent will deploy in these types of deals.

For communities with less than 50 home sites in more secondary or tertiary markets, Kim said the loan size would typically be under $5 million. For larger developments, it could get up to $50 million.

While the need for affordable housing is certainly pronounced in Southern California, the opportunity for manufactured housing communities is not quite there yet, Kim said.

“The largest challenge and barrier to entry in manufactured housing development specifically has been the ability to get entitlements and approvals from the municipalities to develop these communities,” Kim said. “And this is not just L.A. County, but California (as a whole).”

Part of the issue is “the misperception of the product type and the NIMBY (not in my backyard) effect,” he added.

What Kim hopes people will realize is that these communities can be done well, pointing to high-end finishes and advanced construction technology. To his estimates, these homes can be built for 30% to 50% less than traditional, single-family homes built on site.

“The homes are beautiful,” he said. “People need to see them. They need to have the exposure and be educated on the quality of the product and then the cost relative to the quality – it’s jaw dropping.”

All that said, Ascent is still involved in the local market here. At the end of last year, the firm provided a $400 million construction debt facility to Aliso Viejo-based Thomas James Homes to support TJH’s growth initiatives in California, the Pacific Northwest and Arizona, which includes plans to break ground on 100 rebuild projects in Pacific Palisades this year.

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Ivan Ho
CARDIOLOGY
Clinical Professor of Medicine,
Keck School of Medicine of USC;
Director of Cardiac Electrophysiology; Director of Clinical Cardiac
Electrophysiology Fellowship
Keck Medicine of USC

Through development of a large referral practice in the Los Angeles area and being the “go-to” EP physician in the San Gabriel Valley area, with clinic locations in Monterey Park, Pasadena and Arcadia, Ivan Ho, MD, FHRS, FACC has been able to bring tertiary level electrophysiology care to these communities. Dr. Ho has also established a very robust electrophysiology program at Keck Medical Center of USC and other USC hospitals, providing comprehensive arrhythmia management for a variety of patients.

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