Taxing the rich might not solve the world’s problems—at least, that’s what the rich say.
In a recent sit-down interview, CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin spoke with Amazon founder and executive chairman Jeff Bezos at the billionaire’s Blue Origin facility in Florida.
There, Bezos shared that he believes low earners in the U.S. should not pay taxes.
“One percent of taxpayers pay 40% of all the tax revenue; the bottom half pay only 3%. I think it should be zero,” Bezos said. “I think there’s something very powerful about zero.”
But it was a different remark from the world’s fourth-richest person—who in the past has paid reportedly zero dollars in federal taxes—that is catching people’s attention across social media.
“If people want me to pay more billions right, then let’s have that debate. But don’t pretend that that’s going to solve the problem,” Bezos told CNBC. “You could double the taxes I pay, and it’s not going to help that teacher in Queens. I promise you.”
Unsurprisingly, social media users are not welcoming the remarks.
“‘Don’t tax me more,’ says the billionaire worth hundreds of billions while teachers buy classroom supplies with their own paychecks. Cool system,” said a user on X.
Another on Threads added, “Jeff Bezos’s argument for why him paying billions more in taxes won’t help the average person: ‘Believe me.’”
The comment followed Sorkin’s question regarding tax rates, which can sometimes be higher for people in lower tax brackets than for billionaires themselves, even though the total amount is still significantly higher than everyday earners. (Bezos, for his part, claimed that he already pays “billions” in taxes.)
Bezos also emphasized the value that his for-profit companies bring to society, in comparison to his philanthropy. “If I do my job right, the value to society and civilization from my for-profit companies will be much, much larger than the good that I do with my charitable giving,” he said.
A fellow billionaire, who is worth even more than Jeff Bezos, agreed. “True,” wrote Elon Musk on X.
The exchange led to users poking fun at the alleged altruism of Musk and Bezos. “Oh look, it’s the two least philanthropic billionaires in agreement,” one commenter responded.
Taxing the rich is a popular idea
The controversial response arrives as heightened conversations around the taxation of wealthy individuals are spreading around the country. Six out of 10 American adults say the feeling that the wealthy are not paying their fair share of taxes bothers them “a lot,” according to a Pew Research Center poll.
Notably, a proposed wealth tax in California would require billionaires to pay 5% of their extraordinary wealth to raise funds for the state.
“The 5% tax rate is modest relative to the rate of growth of billionaires’ wealth in recent years, and tax payments can be spread over 5 years,” the Institute on Taxation and Economic Policy said in an expert report on the proposal.
Taxing wealthy individuals is not a new concept. In the 1950s, for instance, those earning above $200,000 (or around $2 million today) would be taxed 91% on the income above that threshold. (Though, like today, many loopholes existed to lower the total amount paid.)
Still, experts say that although the marginal income tax rate has lowered since the 1950s, the effective rates have remained somewhat the same.
But regardless of the rate itself, Bezos claims the issue shouldn’t be centered around taxation, but rather other factors that hurt underserved communities. As an example, he pointed to Airbnb as a factor in the housing crisis.
“It’s already been outlawed in New York City, and rents are still very high. So we know Airbnb is not causing high rents,” Bezos said.
Among the leading causes for high rent prices in the city, however, is the limited availability of units, even as hundreds of apartments along Manhattan’s “billionaires’ row” remain vacant.
On social media, users spotted similar discrepancies in the answer’s logic.
“The richest people on Earth constantly explaining why helping regular people is economically impossible is always fascinating,” a user said on X, alongside an AI-generated image of Bezos wearing clown makeup and attire.
Others took Bezos at his word, calling to double his taxes. One user added: “We should raise his taxes until they do help the teacher; let’s listen to him.”