Episode summary
Billionaires Flee to Tax Haven Just Across the California Border | Bloomberg Businessweek
Bloomberg Businessweek Daily
· · 7 min · Hosts: Carol Massar, Tim Stenovec · Guests: Eliyahu Kamisher
Summary
Incline Village on Nevada’s side of Lake Tahoe is drawing a surge of wealthy buyers because it offers a rare mix of lakefront privacy, elite neighbors and no state income tax. Eliyahu Kamisher says the town has become a “trophy” market where estates for people like Larry Ellison, Steve Jurvetson and Sergey Brin can command very different prices from similar homes just across the California border.
The demand appears to be accelerating as California wealth looks for ways to get ahead of a possible billionaire tax and before major stock windfalls from companies like SpaceX, OpenAI and Anthropic. Kamisher says that dynamic helped push first-quarter sales volume for single-family homes in Incline Village and Crystal Bay to roughly $232 million, up sharply from about $30.6 million the year before.
The segment also emphasizes how the area still looks like a modest mountain town at street level, even as luxury changes spread through restaurants, schools and private aviation. Kamisher says the Nevada side is becoming the premium destination around Tahoe because the tax advantages outweigh the lack of Aspen-style glitz.
Key takeaways
- Eliyahu Kamisher says Incline Village has become a “trophy town” because Nevada’s no-income-tax status can halve the cost of comparable lakefront property versus California.
- He says demand is being pulled by California tax concerns, including a proposed billionaire tax that could go on the November ballot.
- The story cites first-quarter single-family sales volume in Incline Village and Crystal Bay at roughly $232 million, up from about $30.6 million a year earlier.
- Kamisher says the town’s luxury shift is showing up in fine dining, a near-capacity private school and an eight-year waitlist for private jet hangars.
- He says Tahoe wealth is increasingly migrating to the Nevada side even though the area still looks like a regular mountain town to casual visitors.
Notable quotes
“It's a Bloomberg exclusive about the billionaires who are fleeing to a tax haven just across the California border”
“It's a haven for wealth and Silicon Valley elite thanks to its beauty, its group of elite neighbors, most critically, no income taxes”
“there's one town on the Nevada side, it's called Incline Village, and it's kind of become the trophy town”
“there's a lot of, you know, beauty there, um but really the Nevada address is what drives a premium”
“So, some people are trying to get out of California before that”
How the episode opens
Bloomberg Audio Studios. Podcasts, radio, news. — You're listening to Bloomberg Business Week with Carol Massar and Tim Stenovec on Bloomberg Radio. — It is today's big take. It's one of the most read stories on the Bloomberg terminal. It's a Bloomberg exclusive about the billionaires who are fleeing to a tax haven just across the California border. We're talking about Incline Village in Nevada. It's a haven for wealth and Silicon Valley elite thanks to its beauty, its group of elite neighbors, most critically, no income taxes.
I mean, it depends, right? It depends. Um, Eli Yahu Kamisher is Bloomberg News California reporter.
He joins us from our San Francisco bureau. Eli Yahu, good to have you back on the program. I mean, we're talking about a beautiful, beautiful part of California, Nevada.
I mean, this is the Lake Tahoe area. It's just absolutely gorgeous in the winter, in the spring, in the summer, and in the fall. We're showing pictures of it on YouTube and Bloomberg Originals.
We just flew over it. — Uh, yeah, we we just flew over it. That's right. Um, what's going on there in these, you know, multi like more than $100 million price tags that we're seeing on some estates?
Yeah, they It's really interesting. The divide between Lake Tahoe is bisected. Uh, half of it's California, half is Nevada.
And if you go to the Nevada side, you can save a lot of money on taxes. And there's one town on the Nevada side, it's called Incline Village, and it's kind of become the trophy town. There is a strip there, it's like a billionaires row, where you have estates of Larry Ellison, uh, uh, Steve Jurvetson, he's a early SpaceX backer, just paid $125 million also for an estate there.
From the episode’s captions: roughly the first two minutes, lightly cleaned. Keep watching on YouTube →
Topics
- tax havens
- billionaires relocation
- california real estate
- wealth inequality
- ultrarich tech migration
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Summary, takeaways and quote selection by Octagon. Quotes are short excerpts; the full conversation is in the episode.
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