Musk Leads Ultra-Wealthy Attack On Billionaire Tax

Elon Musk isn’t happy. With a personal fortune that is flirting with $300 billion, the haughty Tesla CEO — the richest person on earth — has been attacking a Democratic proposal to tax the assets of billionaires like him, Haleluya Hadero reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Elon Musk, the richest person on the planet is supposedly in the driver's seat - leading the charge against the proposed tax on billionaires. He paid zero income taxes in 2018.

The idea behind the Democratic plan is to use revenue from a billionaires tax to help pay for a domestic policy package that would, among other things, help combat climate change, provide universal prekindergarten and expand health care programs.

ProPublica reported in June that some of the richest Americans have paid no income tax, or nearly none, in some years — including Musk, who paid zero income taxes in 2018.

Critics argue that Musk’s criticism of the billionaire tax proposal overlooks the fact that Tesla’s rise has been aided by government incentives and loans. Musk is also facing a slew of lawsuits while regulators are investigating his defective Tesla electric cars.

Musk would be liable for perhaps a one-time $50 billion tax hit under the Democratic proposal. Forget it, he says. “My plan,” the SpaceX founder tweeted Thursday about his fortune, “is to use the money to get humanity to Mars and preserve the light of consciousness.”

Not every billionaire shares such outrage. A spokesperson for George Soros, the investor, and liberal philanthropist, told AP that Soros is “supportive of the proposed billionaires tax.”

And while Warren Buffett has yet to comment on the proposal, the billionaire head of Berkshire Hathaway has long called for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy like himself. Bob Lord, a tax lawyer and associate fellow at the progressive think tank Institute for Policy Studies said that even if this particular proposal doesn’t pass, it does reflect how concerns about financial inequality are gathering momentum.

The Democratic proposal, unveiled Wednesday by Sen. Ron Wyden, would tax the gains of people with either $1 billion or more in assets, or three consecutive years of income of $100 million or more, at the capital gains tax rate of 20% and the 3.8% net investment income tax rate.

It would apply to fewer than an estimated 800 people, who would have to pay tax on the value of tradable items, like stocks, even if they don’t sell them. Under current law, such assets are subject to tax only when they’re sold.

The proposal came against the backdrop of growing concerns about vast economic inequality, with the wealth of many multi-billionaires having accelerated during the COVID-19 pandemic.

John Catsimatidis, the billionaire grocery chain and real estate magnate who owns Gristedes, condemned the proposal as something you would “expect Putin to do.” The plan, Catsimatidis told AP, is “a little bit insane.”

The grocer said “you’re talking about the people that create the jobs. We can get up and go somewhere else.”

Leon Cooperman, the outspoken billionaire investor who has long denounced Sen. Elizabeth Warren’s proposal for a wealth tax, told The Daily Beast: “I doubt it’s legal, and it’s stupid. What made America great was (sic) the people who started with nothing like me making a lot of money and giving it back. A relentless attack on wealthy people makes no sense.”

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