In 2024, wealth concentration rose to an all-time high. Accordingly Forbes billionaires listNot only are there more billionaires than ever before – 2,781 – but these billionaires are also richer than ever, with a combined worth of $14.2 trillion. This trend is likely to continue unabated. A Current report Financial data firm Altrata estimates that about 1.2 million people with assets of more than $5 million will pass on a combined wealth of nearly $31 trillion over the next decade.
Dissatisfaction and concern about the consequences of extreme wealth in our society are increasing. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders stated that “The obscene levels of income and wealth inequality in America are a deeply moral problem.“In one joint commentary for CNN In 2023, Democratic Congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality poses a threat to our economy and democracy.” When Tesla’s board voted on a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk in 2024, some major shareholders voted against it, saying such a level of compensation was “absurd” and “ridiculous.”
In 2025, the fight against rising wealth inequality will be at the top of the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20 – the world’s 20 largest economies – agreed to work on a proposal from Brazil to introduce a new global “Billionaire taxThat would impose a 2 percent tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. This would raise an estimated $250 billion per year. Although this specific proposal was not endorsed in the Rio Declaration, the G20 countries agreed that the super-rich should be taxed more heavily.
Progressive politicians won’t be the only ones trying to address this problem. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. One such movement is Patriotic millionairesa bipartisan group of multimillionaires who are already lobbying the American Congress, publicly and privately, for a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system and the protection of equal representation. “Millionaires and major corporations – who have benefited most from our country’s assets – should be footing a larger percentage of the bills for running the country“ says their value statement. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear and investor Lawrence Benenson.
Another example is TaxMeNowa lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which also advocates higher wealth taxation. Its best-known member is 32-year-old Marlene Engelhorn, descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, the founder of the German pharmaceutical giant BASF. She recently appointed a council of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what to do with her €25 million inheritance. “I inherited a fortune and therefore power without having done anything for it,” she said in a statement. “If 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. The letter, signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals – including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg and filmmaker Richard Curtis – said: “We all know that ‘trickle-down economics’ has not been translated into reality.” Instead, it has given us stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, failing public services and a destabilization of the very institution of democracy.” The conclusion was: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step “take action before it’s too late.” Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.” In 2025, these calls will become even louder thanks to the emerging movement of activist millionaires.
