More than 100 millionaires have signed an open letter asking to pay more tax. As new figures from charity Oxfam again show the COVID-19 pandemic has made the rich wealthier, the Patriotic Millionaires, a group of America’s wealthiest people who are looking to reform the country’s economic system, wrote the letter to the World Economic Forum.
"Few if any of us can honestly say that we pay our fair share in taxes," the group wrote. Analysis by Oxfam, the Fight Inequality Alliance, the Institute for Policy Studies and the Patriotic Millionaires found that implementing an extra wealth tax on the rich could raise $2.52 trillion (£1.84tn) a year and lift 2.3 billion people out of poverty. Read on to meet the millionaires and bilionaires who want to pay more tax.
Former Apple software developer Blaine Garst also counts himself among the Patriotic Millionaires seeking to change America’s wealth distribution system. In 2018, he publicly criticised President Trump’s tax cuts and the impact that had on his former employer, saying that the move allowed Apple to avoid paying $40 billion (£31.5bn) in taxes.
Amy Ziering has made a name for herself through her extensive filmmaking career. Ziering addresses social justice issues in her work, such as her most recent documentary On the Record, which examines sexual harassment in the music industry. The issue of tax has also caught Ziering’s eye, and she has asked the state to take more of her fortune.
Chuck Collins is the great grandson of meat packer Oscar Mayer, founder of his eponymous food corporation. Collins is also the Director of the Program on Inequality at the Institute for Policy Studies, and has an aversion to the super-rich paying little to no tax. Writing for British newspaper the Guardian in 2021, Collins said: “every solution to the global challenges we face requires higher taxes on millionaires and billionaires like us… Pay your fair share of taxes.” Collins has signed the new letter.
Ron Guillot made his money in the healthcare industry, running a start-up medical care business, while his partner owns a large medical practice that treats thousands of people. But Guillot recognises the inequalities in the healthcare industry, and has signed the Davos letter and become a member of the Patriotic Millionaires club. Guillot took part in a Tax March event in Colorado (pictured), which was one of more than 150 US locations for demonstrations that took place after President Trump refused to release his tax returns in April 2017. His opinion on the marginal tax rates currently in force in the US is clear, and in 2019 he described them as: “woefully inefficient, unfair, and, I believe, not in the best interest of all Americans”.
Stanford University professor Terry Winograd also features among the millionaires wanting to pour more of their income into the state as a result of the coronavirus pandemic. Winograd’s professional specialism lies in artificial intelligence and humans’ interactions with tech, and he even spent time as a researcher at Google after advising the company’s co-founder Larry Page during his PhD. As the fast-paced world of AI is one of the most lucrative in the world, Winograd wants to use his accumulated wealth to help others during this global crisis.
Granddaughter of Roy Disney, who co-founded the eponymous Disney empire, multi-millionaire heiress, activist and filmmaker Abigail Disney is no stranger to immense wealth. Yet she has signed the latest letter asking to pay more taxes. She's also spoken out against the mind-boggling salary that former Disney CEO Bob Iger received, saying that it was far too high at a total of $47.5 million (£37.6m) when tallied with bonuses, stock awards and stock options.
Founder and half of the world-famous Ben & Jerry’s ice cream brand, Jerry Greenfield (pictured right) also wants to pay more tax. Speaking about the 2017 tax cuts in the US, Greenfield said they would “throw people off health insurance”, and were “bad in so many ways”, according to CNBC. And it isn’t just people that Greenfield is keen to tax – he has also imposed a number of taxes on Ben & Jerry’s itself, including the company’s internal carbon tax.
New Zealander Sir Stephen Tindall was awarded with a knighthood in 2009 for his work with businesses and communities in the country. While there are no recent figures for Tindall’s net worth, he was estimated to have a fortune of $475 million (£343m) in 2007 by Forbes, and he believes that his excessive wealth should be taxed more stringently. He became New Zealand's first individual billionaire in 2002.
The mega-rich horror author, who was estimated to have earned $17 million (£13.5m) alone in 2019 by Forbes, has no qualms about paying his taxes. In fact, Stephen King has slammed rich people who don't pay their “fair share”, arguing: “Those who have received much must be obligated to pay … in the same proportion.”
Together with his wife Leslie, Seattle-based investor Nick Hanauer is worth a reported $1 billion (£720m) but, unlike many other ultra high-net-worthers, he advocates much higher taxes on the rich and a more equitable distribution of wealth. Along with 17 other millionaires and billionaires, he signed an open letter to presidential candidates calling for higher taxes in 2019. Hanauer is also campaigning to raise the US minimum wage to $15 an hour as means of tackling poverty and boosting the economy, which he argues come hand in hand, and has signed the Davos letter.
Jay-Z, who became the world’s first billionaire rapper in 2019, has an estimated net worth of $1.3 billion (£977m). In an interview with CNN, he said: “I’m sure if it was for healthcare and for education and to help people, I think most people with a conscience and some integrity and moral fiber wouldn’t have any problem paying more taxes.” It's even been reported that he helped out fellow rapper Lil Wayne pay off an enormous tax bill after he had built up years of unpaid taxes and fines.
Hedge fund billionaire-turned-environmental activist Tom Steyer is vehemently opposed to tax breaks for the rich and urged President Trump to increase taxes on the wealthiest in order to invest directly in the American people as a whole. Steyer also ran to represent the Democratic Party in the 2020 election, saying that he would “undo every Republican tax cut for rich people and for corporations” if he were elected. This never came to fruition as Steyer dropped out of the race following disappointing results early on.
One of the heirs to the Dayton family fortune, which was generated by the Target retail empire, former Minnesota governor Mark Dayton raised taxes on the rich while in office from 2011-2019, and is credited with turning around the state's economy. Dayton and his family were estimated to be worth an impressive $1.6 billion (£1.16bn) by Forbes in 2015.
The JPMorgan Chase CEO has no issue with increased taxation on the rich, but would like the money spent judiciously. “I believe that individuals earning the most can afford to pay more, and I have no problem paying higher taxes to address some of the fundamental challenges and inequities in our society,” he has previously told CNBC. Dimon has also spoken out in reference to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that it “must serve as a wake-up call” to create a more inclusive economy, as it has highlighted how many people were “living on the edge” even before the outbreak truly hit.
The Gochmans boasted a family fortune of $2.5 billion (£1.8bn) in 2015, according to Forbes. Molly Gochman is renowned in the world of art, both as a creator and an investor, but also makes headlines for wanting the rich to pay higher taxes.
Agnes Gund inherited a fortune from her banker father, George Gund, who was president of the Cleveland Trust Company, and in 2015 the family fortune was estimated to be around $3.4 billion (£2.5bn) by Forbes. The 84-year-old philanthropist served as president of the Museum of Modern Art for 11 years, and donated to causes including AIDS research, abortion rights and arts organisations. Despite giving away the lion's share of her fortune, Gund believes she should be paying more tax, as does her daughter Catherine.
A scion of one of America's richest families and a billionaire in his own right, Illinois governor JB Pritzker donated an enormous $56.5 million (£44.7m) of his own money to try to get his “Fair Tax” bill passed, but voters rejected it. His values are also shared by his family: two heiresses to the family fortune, Regan Pritzker and Liesel Pritzker Simmons, both signed the open letter to US 2020 presidential candidates calling for higher taxes on the wealthy.
It might be surprising to hear that one of the UK's best-known entrepreneurs, who is domiciled on an income tax-free private island in the Caribbean, has come out in support of more substantial taxes on the rich. But Richard Branson has spoken out about tax: "I suspect there should be higher taxes for the wealthy around the world and I don't think they would object to that."
A signatory of Bill and Melinda Gates' Giving Pledge, private equity billionaire David Rubenstein believes it is up to governments to change tax laws so the rich pay more, and would have no problem doing so. Speaking at a conference in Washington in 2012, Rubenstein described the tax system in the US as “a disgrace” that caused inequality across the nation, but in his own defence said “I’m paying what I’m supposed to pay. Change the law, I’ll pay whatever I’m supposed to pay,” according to Reuters.
Howard Schultz, the former Starbucks chairman and CEO who expressed interest in an independent run for the 2020 presidency, gave his opinion on the matter of taxes in a speech in February 2019 at Indiana's Purdue University: “I myself should be paying higher taxes – and all wealthy Americans should have to pay their fair share.”
Mark Cuban is not one to shirk his tax-paying duty. The Shark Tank investor and Dallas Mavericks owner has this to say to Americans who are reluctant to cough up the cash: “Pay your taxes. It's the most patriotic thing you can do.” That said, Cuban did publicly disagree with Senator Elizabeth Warren when she proposed a wealth tax to fund a “Medicare for All” initiative as part of her US presidency campaign.
Another mega-wealthy individual pushing for higher taxation on the rich is New York real estate heir and custodian of the National Debt Clock Douglas Durst, who with his family was estimated to have a net worth of $8.1 billion (£5.9bn) by Forbes in 2020. He is unequivocal when it comes to wanting to hand over more money to the federal government: “I support higher taxes on people like me,” he said in an interview with The Washington Post in 2018. Douglas Durst has been consistent when it comes to implementing what he deems to be fair, to the extent that he testified against his own brother Robert, who was on trial for murder last year.
George Soros supports proposals that raise taxes on the rich and has been a long-time advocate of a fairer distribution of wealth in society. He also signed the 2019 letter appealing for higher taxes for the mega-rich, and in 2011 was quoted in The Star saying that the rich are “hurting their own long-term interests by their opposition to paying more taxes." Still, the investor has been accused of hypocrisy by pouring billions into charity to sidestep tax and for moving the domicile of his Soros Fund to low-tax Ireland – the deferrals added up to an enormous $13.3 billion (£10.5bn) by the end of 2013...
Salesforce founder Marc Benioff has called out fellow tech billionaires in San Francisco for failing to help tackle the growing problem of homelessness in the city, and endorsed Proposition C, a successful November 2018 ballot which slaps a 0.5% tax on businesses with more than $50 million (£39.5m) in revenue that will go towards funding homelessness services. Benioff and Salesforce contributed $7 million (£5.4m) to support the proposal, which was set to cost Salesforce $10 million (£7.8m) extra a year.
Michael Bloomberg’s eagerness to tax the wealthy can be seen throughout his political career. He has always believed that everyone should pay their fair share, and when he was mayor of New York, he hiked up property and income taxes for those with high salaries. As part of his 2020 presidential campaign, the billionaire unveiled a $5 trillion (£3.9tn) tax plan in a bid to get the wealthy to pay more and reverse tax cuts imposed by the Trump administration, but Bloomberg then dropped out of the race after missing the voting threshold in a number of states. He had spent near to $1 billion (£720m) on his campaign for the top job.
Warren Buffett, known as "The Oracle of Omaha", thinks the wealthy are under-taxed compared to the general population. He came up with the "Buffett Rule", which was part of Barack Obama’s 2011 tax proposal, that suggests that no millionaire or billionaire should pay a lower effective tax rate than a regular working person. It seems like common sense, but often that is not the case. Buffett has donated a total of $37 billion (£29.2bn) to charity since 2006, although cynics have questioned whether this was done for the sake of tax benefits. In response, Buffett has said that for every $1,000 (£778) that he has donated, his tax payments are reduced by around 43 cents (£0.34). In 2010 Buffett co-created The Giving Pledge where the rich commit to donate most, if not all, of their wealth to charity, alongside Bill and Melinda Gates.
Facebook (now Meta) has attracted criticism for its tax avoidance, but the social media behemoth's chairman and CEO has said in the past that he is “cool” with paying more income tax, and claims he will receive no tax benefits from his philanthropic endeavours. In 2019, Facebook paid just £28 million ($36m) in tax in the UK, despite a revenue of £1.6 billion ($2bn) in the country, and Zuckerberg has since met with world leaders and members of the European Commission to discuss how tech giants are taxed and to say that he is “happy to pay more tax”.
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A frequent advocate of higher taxation on the rich, Gates has paid more than $10 billion (£7.9bn) in taxes during his lifetime, and he said that if it went up to $20 billion (£15.8bn) that would be “fine”. Gates strongly believes in a more progressive system and is of the opinion that he should have paid more on his capital gains in particular. He and his now ex-wife Melinda started a foundation which spends billions on fighting poverty and disease each year, and also instigated The Giving Pledge, which the world’s wealthiest can sign up to committing that they will give away the majority of their wealth away over their lifetime.
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