The Office of the Governor of the State of California

04/06/2026 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 04/06/2026 17:37

ICYMI: Bloomberg News: How California’s economy dominates in the Gavin Newsom era

Under Newsom, California became the top performing economy not just among its 49 siblings but also any developed nation
- Bloomberg News
California isn't just keeping up, it's outgrowing major global economies.
It drives over 40% of U.S. stock market growth with less than 12% of the population.
The state captures nearly two-thirds of all U.S. venture capital.
Its economy now exceeds $4 trillion - bigger than most countries.

SACRAMENTO - Under the Newsom administration, the California economy has continued to dominate, despite Trump's failed economic policies and sustained political attacks by Murdoch's right-wing media machine against the Golden State.

As Bloomberg recently put it: "Of all the prevailing media narratives around Gavin Newsom, the one that is most conspicuous by its absence is how under its two-term governor California became the top performing economy not just among its 49 siblings but also any developed nation. No wonder Elon Musk quietly sought Newsom's help when the world's richest man sought to move a bunch of Tesla Inc. engineers back to the state after relocating them to Texas."

Gavin Newsom is an "economic maestro."
Matthew A. Winkler, Columnist & Editor-in-Chief Emeritus

Read the Full Column Here →

What naysayers don't mention is that "the Golden State (population 39 million people), just supplanted Japan (123 million) as the fourth-largest economy."

Here's what Bloomberg reported:

California's growth and economic output dominate.

✅ After Newsom took office in January 2019. California's gross domestic product surged 40% to more than $4 trillion, accounting for more than 14% of US output. This outpaced major economies including China (expanded 32%) and Germany (expanded 16%).

✅ California drove 40%+ of the growth in value of the nation's publicly traded equities, despite being less than 12% of the entire U.S. population.

✅ "California accounted for 70 percentage points, more than triple No. 2 Washington (20 points), almost five times No. 3 Texas (15 points) and No. 4 New York (13 points) and almost 12 times No. 5 Ohio (6 points)."

✅California companies are thriving - "spending $527 billion annually on acquisitions during Newsom's tenure, almost three times the $179 billion spent annually in the 20 years prior to 2019,"

California is a talent pipeline.

"California's not-so-secret sauce happens to be the diversity between its citizens' ears instead of the fossil fuels generating the biggest share of Texas growth."

✅ "With more than 600 colleges and universities, California today has no peers in higher education, whether in the US or any of the world's developed economies."

✅California has the highest density in higher education to create a top talent pipeline, with one college or university for every 64,000 citizens, more than the UK and Germany.

✅California produces more engineers than any other state.

✅"Investors in California are getting 11% of their return from the University of California, the Los Angeles Unified School District and California State University."

California's industries are fueling the nation.

According to Bloomberg, here are the industries contributing to California's economic dominance:

✅Technology firms based in California lead the nationwide industry with 41 companies producing a 603% total return over the past decade. That's four times the gain of their global peers in the past two, three and five years.

✅Innovation, with California making up 62% of all U.S. venture capital funding and 31.5% of all venture capital deals last year. "For context, the runner-up in 2025 was New York with 13.3%. Massachusetts was next, just ahead of Texas - both below 6%."

✅Health care contributed 52% to California's GDP in 2025, despite MAGA attacks on the industry. "California's uninsured rate declined to a record-low 6.4% in 2023, the largest drop in the US, from more than 17% a decade ago, helped by the Covered California and Medi-Cal expanded coverage programs."

✅ Infrastructure and trade keep the U.S. economy moving due to this administration's infrastructure investments. California's Port of Los Angeles is the "US gateway to global trade, handling more than $300 billion of cargo annually."

✅ Clean energy and clean transportation are helping California maintain its future-facing dominance with its largest eight clean companies seeing the value of their stocks appreciate an average 56% since 2019, compared to 40% for their global peers. "Their 7% average annual gain in revenue crushes the 5% global average. California renewable energy companies will see 17% revenue growth in the coming year, more than doubling the 7% increase of global peers, according to analyst estimates."

Forget the political attacks. Industry knows its breadwinners are in the Golden State.

"Even after Musk, Tesla's CEO, decried California as 'a land of taxes, over-regulation and litigation' when he moved the company's headquarters along with its research and development leadership to Texas in 2021, the world's richest person admitted a year later that Tesla couldn't succeed without California-based engineers.

'I can't find the talent in Texas. Don't say a word."

The Office of the Governor of the State of California published this content on April 06, 2026, and is solely responsible for the information contained herein. Distributed via Public Technologies (PUBT), unedited and unaltered, on April 06, 2026 at 23:37 UTC. If you believe the information included in the content is inaccurate or outdated and requires editing or removal, please contact us at [email protected]