CALIFORNIA — Tech investor Ron Conway is pressing California Gov. Gavin Newsom to negotiate changes that would prevent a proposed one-time 5% wealth tax from reaching the state's June ballot. Conway and several other tech figures are funding campaigns opposing the proposed wealth tax ballot initiative.

"Our job is to get Gavin to negotiate this so that it doesn't get to the ballot. So, maybe they don't get the signatures," Conway said. "We must keep this off the ballot. So a whole bunch of work has to happen for that."

Conway, founder of SV Angel and known as The Godfather of Silicon Valley, made early investments in Google and Facebook. In November, Conway donated $100,000 to Stop the Squeeze, a group opposed to the proposed wealth tax.

Supporters of the initiative are gathering signatures ahead of a June deadline. If passed, California residents with a net worth of over $1.1 billion would face a one-time tax totalling 5% of their assets. California Gov. Gavin Newsom is publicly opposed to the proposed wealth tax initiative.

A group including Sergey Brin, Stripe cofounder Patrick Collison, and former Google CEO Eric Schmidt donated over $44 million to a political action committee called Building a Better California that is pushing three competing anti-wealth tax ballot measures. Three competing ballot initiatives would prevent the proposed wealth tax from taking effect.

Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page have moved assets out of California. Marc Andreessen once called Ron Conway the human router. Conway considers the nickname a compliment.

A public opinion poll by the UC Berkeley Citrin Center for Public Opinion Research found that support for the proposed wealth tax was around 50% and within the margin of error.