Billionaires Warn of the Dangers of Wealth Concentration, Call for Higher Taxes on the Ultra-Wealthy

Joint Open Letter Ahead of Davos Forum
"Ultra-Wealthy Seizing Governments and Media with Their Wealth"

Wealthy individuals from 24 countries around the world, including billionaires, have publicly raised the need for increased taxes on the ultra-wealthy. They argue that the vast capital concentrated among a tiny minority of ultra-rich individuals is being converted into political influence, thereby undermining democracy and worsening both social inequality and the response to climate change.

Posters featuring the faces of Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg demanding increased taxes on the ultra-wealthy appeared near the World Economic Forum event venue. Photo by AFP

According to the British daily The Guardian on January 21 (local time), around 400 wealthy individuals from 24 countries released an open letter ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Davos, expressing these concerns. They specifically addressed the Davos Forum, where leaders from politics and business around the world gather, to highlight the issues associated with the global ultra-wealthy.

In the letter, they strongly criticized that "a tiny global elite with massive wealth is buying up our democracies, capturing governments, suppressing media freedom, and controlling technology and innovation." They further emphasized, "If even millionaires like us must acknowledge that extreme wealth has taken everything from everyone else, there can be no doubt that society is standing on a dangerous cliff edge."

Notable figures who signed the letter include actor and film producer Mark Ruffalo, musician Brian Eno, and Abigail Disney, heiress of the Walt Disney family, film producer, and philanthropist.

The 'ultra-wealthy' group they are concerned about typically refers to those with assets of 1 billion dollars (approximately 1.4 trillion won) or more. According to a recent inequality report by international relief organization Oxfam, the number of ultra-wealthy individuals meeting this criterion surpassed 3,000 worldwide for the first time last year. In particular, the combined assets of the top 12 individuals, led by Tesla CEO Elon Musk, exceeded the total assets of the bottom 50% of the global population, which amounts to 4 billion people.

In a survey conducted by Patriotic Millionaires, a group advocating for higher taxes on the ultra-wealthy, of 3,900 wealthy individuals in the Group of Twenty (G20) countries, 77% of respondents said that "extremely wealthy individuals can buy political influence with their money." Additionally, over 60% expressed concern that the influence of the ultra-wealthy poses a threat to democracy and voiced support for increased taxation to fund public services.

Amitabh Behar, Oxfam's International Executive Director, emphasized the need for structural measures, stating, "The widening gap between the wealthy and the rest of society is creating a dangerous and unsustainable 'political deficit.'"