No Billionaires?

Years ago, we were on a family vacation, and there was only one other family there who had kids, so both of our families stood out. The other family was from Denmark, which led to a conversation about money with our family. We discussed socialism and how people may not be given the same opportunities or have the same drive to create generational wealth. There is much more to the story but it sparked my memory when Zohran was quoted in an interview saying there should not be billionaires.

In the US, there is the opportunity to become anything you want to be, and with that, create as much wealth as you want, or not. We can point to Carnegie, the titan of the steel industry, and John D. Rockefeller, who helped build the steel industry. John Astor, Henry Ford, John Paul Getty, Andrew Mellon, and then, of course, the newest billionaires, Gates, Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg. Those titans of the past, have not only created massive wealth for their families that has been handed down to multiple generations, they have all made a major philantrhopic impact on our country from the arts to medicine. That giving has been part of the zeitgeist for many of these families, and others that I have not named.

Much of the anger felt in our country is not only due to many struggling to make ends meet, but also to the influence of cash on our government, which we can largely attribute to the Supreme Court ruling in 2010 allowing the creation of super PACS. If we were to remove all of that from the equation, a lot would shift.

Because there are no tax incentives for many of the “new money” billionaires, many have chosen to give very little. It is those who have empathy and believe that the type of financial success they have achieved creates a responsibility to give back, like those who have done so in the past, rather than just having bigger toys to play with. Bloomberg probably has plenty of toys but he has also chosen to give back in countless ways across the globe. I find what he has done beyond inspiring, and yes he is a billionaire.

There is a reason why many of the best and brightest have migrated to the US over the years, due to the ability to create, grow, and succeed in a very different way than those in Denmark. Our culture is built on capitalism and democracy. That is what sets us apart.

We should not take away the opportunity to become a billionaire; instead, we should create a structure that incentivizes those with the deepest pockets to give back. That is what Zohran, AOC, and Bernie should be focused on, not shutting off the supply chain.