Experts Believe There’s an Overlooked Reason for Ellen DeGeneres & Portia de Rossi Leaving the US
Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi‘s international move may have everything to do with one reason many have overlooked until now.
Real estate broker and CEO of Echo Fine Properties, Jeff Lichtenstein, told Hello Magazine that DeGeneres and Rossi’s move may have had nothing to do with US President Donald Trump or their relationship. The move was allegedly all financial.
“Ellen is not the only one, as Rosie O’Donnell and other Hollywood stars are doing the same. Some of the uber-wealthy are also leaving California after the extra sales tax on mansions selling for above 10 million (5.4 percent),” he said to the outlet. “California has super high-income state taxes (14.4 percent). Combine that with capital gains, it’s an expensive place to live.”
According to TurboTax, California was in the top 1 of the 10 highest income tax rates by state for 2023. In fact, they also said, “13.3 percent for individuals earning more than $1 million. A 1 percent surcharge for mental health services applies to this income bracket.” And now, that’s gone up, making California incredibly hard to live in, even for the wealthy.
DeGeneres has a net worth of $500 million and a salary of $75 million, per Celebrity Net Worth, so even they have to deal with the high taxes. Now, with her and Rossi selling off their US homes, and with DeGeneres’ show being over in 2022 (per New York Times), it seems they’re trying to save as many millions as they can.
In case you’re like, “When did they move to the UK?,” here’s what you need to know. They left after President Donald Trump was re-elected (and after DeGeneres said goodbye to the spotlight. However, insiders also claimed that they moved due to their marriage, saying to InTouch Weekly that “getting out of Southern California only increases the incredible control Ellen has had over Portia for years, and Ellen clearly had a reason to want to increase that level of control.”)
However, now, insiders and experts alike claim that while these issues may have come into play, it all seems to be a financial matter.
For those who don’t know, DeGeneres and Rossie met back in 2001 at a Rock the Vote concert. However, they didn’t get together until 2004. When they reconnected in 2004, DeGeneres was with photographer Alexandra Hedison and de Rossi was with singer Francesca Gregorini. However, after they split with their respective partners, they started dating.
They got engaged, and later married in Aug 2008, at their former home in Beverly Hills, Calif; and have been together ever since.
Before you go, click here to see the longest celebrity marriages.