People With Extreme Wealth Should Give It Away—or Be Penalized

In 2024, wealth concentration will rise to an all-time high. according to Forbes Billionaires ListNot only are there more billionaires than ever before (2,781), but these billionaires are also richer than ever, with a combined net worth of $14.2 trillion. This trend looks set to continue unabated. one recent reports Financial data firm Altrata estimates that over the next 10 years, approximately 1.2 million individuals worth more than $5 million will inherit a collective wealth of nearly $31 trillion.

Dissatisfaction and concern about the consequences of extreme wealth on our society are growing. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders stated, “The extent of income and wealth inequality in the United States is a profound moral issue.” in a CNN syndicated column In 2023, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality poses a threat to our economy and our democracy.” 2024 When Tesla’s board of directors voted on Elon Musk’s $56 billion compensation package in 2017, some major shareholders voted against it, declaring the level of pay “ridiculous” and “absurd”.

In 2025, responding to rising wealth inequality will be high on the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20 (the world’s 20 largest economies) agreed to work on a proposal from Brazil to introduce a new global “billionaire tax“This would impose a 2% tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. It is estimated that this would raise $250 billion per year. Although this specific proposal was not endorsed in the Rio Declaration, G20 countries agree The super rich should be taxed more.

Progressive politicians are not the only ones trying to address this issue. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and pressure political leaders. One of the sports is patriotic millionaireA nonpartisan group of millionaires who have campaigned publicly and lobbied privately for the U.S. Congress to demand a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system and protection of equal representation. “Millionaires and big corporations – the people who benefit most from our nation’s assets – should pay a greater share of the cost of governing our nation,” their value statement reads. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Maurice Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear and investor Lawrence Benenson.

Another example is tax immediatelyis a lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires from Germany, Austria and Switzerland that also advocates for higher wealth taxes. Its most famous member is 32-year-old Marlene Engelhorn, a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of German pharmaceutical giant BASF. She recently formed a committee of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what to do with her €25 million inheritance. “I inherited a fortune and therefore power without doing anything about it,” she said in a statement. “If politicians don’t do their job and redistribute, then I will have to redistribute my wealth myself. ”

Earlier this year, Patriot Millionaire, TaxMeNow, Oxfam and another called human millionaire An alliance called “Proud to Pay More” was formed, and send a letter Addressing global leaders during the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos. The letter, signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg and film producer Richard Curtis, reads: ‘We all know’ Trickle-down economics has not yet translated into reality. Instead, it has given us stagnant wages, collapsed infrastructure, failed public services and destabilized democratic institutions. Take this necessary and inevitable step before you do. Make your country proud by taxing extreme wealth. By 2025, these calls will become even louder thanks to the rise of the radical millionaire movement.