Bill Gates calls for higher taxes on the rich — but warns against crushing the American dream
Afolabi Sotunde / Reuters
- Bill Gates' ideal tax system would leave him worth 62% less, but still a billionaire.
- He warned that excessive taxes would deter people from starting businesses and curb economic growth.
- The Microsoft cofounder said the rich should pay higher taxes and give the rest to good causes.
Bill Gates wants steeper taxes on the wealthy — but not so steep that he wouldn't be a billionaire, or that the founder of the next Microsoft wouldn't become one.
"I would set tax rates quite a bit higher for rich people," Gates said during a recent live recording of the "On With Kara Swisher" podcast.
He voiced support for a tax system that would take away 62% of his wealth — but not over 99% as one hardline critic, Sen. Bernie Sanders, called for on his new Netflix show: "What's Next? The Future with Bill Gates."
"You definitely do get to the point where ... you're killing the goose that lays the golden egg," Gates said, noting that North Korea has "unbelievable equality."
"We've created wealth, and I think that the system that does that has a few elements that we shouldn't throw out," he added.
The Microsoft cofounder ranks as the world's sixth-richest person with a $163 billion net worth, per the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
He said America is the "envy of the world" as a place for creating hugely valuable companies, and the economy has to grow for the government to raise the social safety net as high as progressives like Sanders want.
Gates also said he's a "huge believer" in the estate tax, and eliminating it would be a mistake as that would protect dynastic fortunes — wealth that's inherited, not earned.
The tech billionaire and cofounder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said the uber-wealthy should give more money to the government and commit the rest to help others. He said that "once you pay those taxes, whatever's left over, you should engage in philanthropy."
Gates' latest comments suggest he'd like to be about $100 billion less wealthy at around $62 billion. He's previously said he would have paid "tens of billions" more in taxes if he'd designed the US tax system.