People with extreme wealth must give – or be penalized

By 2024, the concentration of wealth has reached an all-time high. According to Forbes billionaires listnot only are there more billionaires than ever — 2,781 — but those billionaires are also richer than ever, with a combined net worth of $14.2 trillion. This is a trend that seems to continue indefinitely. A recent report by financial data company Altrata estimated that about 1.2 million people worth more than $5 million will hand over a collective wealth of nearly $31 trillion over the next decade.

Discontent and concern about the consequences of extreme wealth in our society is growing. Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, stated that “The obscene level of income and wealth inequality in America is a deeply moral problem.“In a joint article for CNN In 2023, Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality is a threat to our economy and democracy.” In 2024, when Tesla’s board voted a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk, some major shareholders voted against it, declaring that such a level of compensation was “absurd” and “.ridiculous.”

In 2025, the fight against growing wealth inequality will be high on the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20 – the 20 largest economies in the world – agreed to work on a proposal from Brazil to introduce a new global “billionaire tax” which imposes a tax of 2 percent on assets of more than $ 1 billion. This would have an estimated $ 250 billion a year. While this specific proposal was not approved in the Rio declaration, the G20 countries agreed that the super rich should be taxed more.

Progressive politicians won’t be the only ones trying to tackle this problem. In 2025, the millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. Such a movement is Patriotic Millionairesa non-partisan group of multi-millionaires who are already publicly campaigning and privately lobbying the US Congress for a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system, and the protection of equal representation. “Millionaires and big corporations – who have benefited the most from our country’s assets – should pay a bigger percentage of the tab to run the country.“, reads its value statement. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, jurist Lawrence Lessig, writer Norman Lear and investor Lawrence Benenson.

Another example is TaxMeNowa lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires in Germany, Austria and Switzerland that also supports higher wealth taxation. Its most famous member is 32-year-old Marlene Engelhorn, a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of the German pharmaceutical giant BASF. He recently set up a council of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what should happen to his €25 million inheritance. “I inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without having done anything for it,” he said in a statement. “If the politicians don’t do their job and redistribute, then I have to redistribute my wealth myself.”

Earlier this year, Patriotic Millionaires, TaxMeNow, Oxfam and another activist group called Millionaires for humanity formed a coalition called Proud to Pay More, and addressed a letter to world leaders during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals, including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg and filmmaker Richard Curtis, the letter stated: “We all know that ‘the economy of the economy’ does not translate into reality. Instead it gave us stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, failed public services, and destabilized the very institution of democracy.” He concluded: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it is too late. Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.” In 2025, thanks to the nascent movement of activist millionaires, these calls grow even stronger.