Incline Village on the Nevada side of Lake Tahoe has seen an influx of ultra wealthy Californians fleeing the state’s proposed billionaires tax.
Silicon Valley billionaires like Google co-founder Sergey Brin, SpaceX investor Steve Jurvetson, and Naveen Rao, with Unconventional AI, have recently moved to the Nevada bordertown on the north shore of Lake Tahoe ahead of a proposed “billionaire tax” in the state.
“Our primary market is Californians seeking tax refuge in Nevada and people buying second homes,” Cole Mizak, a top luxury real estate broker in the area told The Post.
Miziak, who has been doing real estate for a decade, said that his clients are primarily coming from the Bay Area and Washington State.
“We are seeing a bigger push, especially in $10-20 million home price range,” he said. “Six already this year in the $10 million or more bracket. And there’s actually 3 more currently in escrow.”
“At this same time period last year, there had been one in that category.”
He added, “In the $20 million or more range, there was zero sales in this time period last year. This year there has already been four.”
Mizak said there’s been a lot of Silicon Valley and AI people, naming people from companies like Meta, and Anthropic.
He sees it as a combination of the California billionaire tax and the recently passed millionaire tax in Washington.
In April, Rao, whose business is located in Palo Alto, moved his family from the Bay Area to a $20 million mansion in the small scenic mountain town around the lake in Washoe County. The 8,000-square-foot mansion includes seven bedrooms and bathrooms along with an eight-seat movie theater.
“Incline is the nicest San Francisco neighborhood,” Rao told The Information.
“The mountains, the lake—you really can’t beat it. Everything’s clean and pure. Just kind of the way it’s intended.”
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He also slammed the proposed tax and said it will wipe out his startup company.
“I don’t have the value in cash required to pay it. It’s not just a disincentive—my company will die or I’m insolvent.”
Christine Perry, a realtor who works in Incline village, said that she’s seen property in the area start flying due largely to the tech elite looking to move to the area.
“My buyers here in Nevada are high-net-worth individuals who are trying to position themselves here on the lake and get in early,” Perry told the outlet. “It’s like a scurry, and it’s coming from the wealth tax.”
Late last year, Brin plunked down a whopping $42 million for a home in Crystal Bay, which is located just down the road on the north shore of the lake.
Brin’s new pad boasts 16, 232 square feet of living space, including seven bedrooms, 12 bathrooms, a 10-seat theater, a 1,687-bottle wine cellar and 13 fireplaces.
The mansion also comes with 525 feet of lakefront property, complete with two boat lifts, a seasonal boat barge and its very own beach house.
Brin’s purchase was one of three luxury mansions that sold in 2026 for over $20 million. In just the first four months of the year, that total has already been matched, per the report.
The sale of homes in Incline Village and Crystal Bay in April generated a total of $69.9 million, according to a realtor blog. The sale of single family homes went up by nearly 17% compared to 2025, per the report.
The area is also attracting millionaire investors and founders who are just a tick under the billionaire status like Matthew Nordby, who runs Flume Ventures, a nine-figure VC fund.
Nordby told the outlet the village is the “Hamptons of San Francisco.”
“We don’t look at Incline as a place to retire,” Nordby said. “It’s rather an alternative to Sand Hill Road.”
“You have to understand Nevada is a frontier state of 3.5 million people. I can get the governor on the phone here.”
He added, “Trying to navigate Sacramento is a lot more difficult—as everyone’s finding out.”He added, “Trying to navigate Sacramento is a lot more difficult—as everyone’s finding out.”
Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison Oracle has also been quietly amassing luxury property just over the state line. In 2021, he purchased the Hyatt resort in the village for $345 million. He joined Workday billionaire David Duffield who relocated to the Nevada enclave years ago.
Late last year, Ellison sold his sprawling 11,000 square foot five bedroom San Francisco mansion in Pacific Heights for $45 million, ahead of the proposed wealth tax.
The CA ballot initiative, called the “2026 Billionaire Tax Act,” would “impose a one-time tax of 5 percent on the net worth of the state’s billionaires,” according to the Tax Foundation. It will be on the ballot in November.
The legendary Cal Neva resort- just down the road from Incline Village-could soon be the place where the wealthiest find entertainment.
The resort, once owned by Frank Sinatra and frequented by stars like Marilyn Monroe, Dean Martin and even John F. Kennedy could soon reopen after securing a nearly $300 million investment.
Realberry and Proper Hospitality recently announced they had closed a $298 million financing package to redevelop the historic hotel into the Lake Tahoe Proper Resort and Casino, with plans to reopen the storied property in 2027. The group purchased the property from Ellison in 2023.
The resort, sits directly on the California-Nevada border along the northeast shore of Lake Tahoe.
“It’s one of the most underserved luxury markets in the nation, if not the world,” Realberry CEO Chad McWhinney told the outlet. “Success often comes to those who get in front of the inevitable.”
The Post reached out to Nordby, Realberry, and several realtors in the area for further comment.
