California requires manager names (or all member names, if member-managed) on its public LLC filing. California has no name-privacy mechanism of its own; a Wyoming holding LLC named on the Statement of Information is the only way to keep an owner's name off California's public record. See our Wyoming holding company guide and full list of anonymous LLC states for more.
Not private
Statement of Information publishes manager/member names
Wyoming parent
Anonymity comes from an out-of-state holding LLC
$800/yr
Minimum franchise tax, per entity
§ 17705.03
Exclusive remedy, but foreclosure permitted
There is no such thing as an anonymous LLC formed under California law. The Articles of Organization don't ask for member or manager names, but the Statement of Information — due within 90 days of formation and every two years after — requires exactly that, and it's a public, searchable record. The honest framing for California isn't how to hide a name on the state's filing; it's how to make sure the name on that filing isn't yours. The standard answer is a Wyoming holding LLC named as the manager or member, so California's public record shows the Wyoming entity instead of an individual.
California's Articles of Organization don't ask for member or manager names directly, but every LLC must file a Statement of Information (Form LLC-12) within 90 days of formation and every two years after. That filing names every manager of a manager-managed LLC, or every member of a member-managed LLC, and it is a public, searchable record. There is no version of a California LLC that keeps ownership private under California law alone.
There is no anonymous California LLC under California law — privacy here is entirely a function of what you name in the Statement of Information's manager or member field. The standard structure is a Wyoming holding LLC (which files no owner names of its own) named as the manager, or as the sole member if the California LLC is member-managed. California's public record then shows the Wyoming entity's name, not an individual's, and Wyoming's own filing discloses nothing further. This has to be in place before the first Statement of Information is due — 90 days after formation — because that filing, not the Articles of Organization, is where a California LLC's ownership actually becomes public.
Naming a Wyoming entity on the Statement of Information keeps a name off California's public record, but the underlying beneficial owners — of both the California LLC and the Wyoming holding LLC — must still be reported to FinCEN under the Corporate Transparency Act, a non-public federal database.
Cal. Corp. Code § 17705.03 — exclusive remedy, but with statutory foreclosure allowed. California labels the charging order the exclusive remedy, but the same statute lets a court foreclose the lien and order the interest sold once a creditor shows distributions won't satisfy the judgment in a reasonable time — meaningfully weaker than Wyoming's no-foreclosure rule.
Every California LLC owes an $800 minimum annual franchise tax (FTB Form 3522) regardless of profit — the AB 85 first-year waiver expired December 31, 2023, so LLCs formed after January 1, 2024 owe it from year one. A $20 Statement of Information is also due every two years, and LLCs with California gross receipts above $250,000 owe an additional tiered fee of $900 to $11,790.
Note: Confirm the $800 minimum franchise tax and the $250,000 gross-receipts fee threshold directly with the California Franchise Tax Board — these figures and thresholds are periodically adjusted and this guide reflects the figures documented elsewhere on this site as of mid-2026.
Not under California law alone. The Statement of Information (Form LLC-12), due within 90 days of formation and every two years after, names every manager or, if member-managed, every member, and that filing is public. Anonymity requires naming an out-of-state holding company — typically a Wyoming LLC — in that role instead of an individual.
Because the Statement of Information is due within 90 days of formation. If you name yourself as manager or member on that first filing, your name is already in California's public record — the Wyoming holding LLC needs to exist and be named from the start, not added later.
No. Every LLC that is a California LLC, or that is registered to do business in California, owes its own $800 minimum annual franchise tax regardless of how ownership is structured. A Wyoming parent adds privacy and (depending on structure) asset-protection benefits, not a California tax reduction.
Bottom line: California offers no name privacy of its own — every bit of anonymity in a California LLC comes from a correctly structured Wyoming holding company named on the Statement of Information.