RELEASE: More than 200 millionaires urge global leaders at Davos to tackle extreme wealth and tax the ultra rich
Letter signed by 200+ millionaires from 13 countries urges political leaders attending Davos to tackle the crisis of extreme wealth as new analysis shows that the number of ultra rich surged by more than 50 percent in the last decade.
As the World Economic Forum annual meeting continues in Davos, Switzerland, over 200 millionaires from 13 countries have urged global leaders to face up to one of the world’s most neglected forms of extremism - that of concentrated wealth. In a letter entitled The Cost of Extreme Wealth, millionaires from multiple backgrounds state, ‘the history of the last five decades is a story of wealth flowing nowhere but upwards. In the last few years, this trend has greatly accelerated...The solution is plain for all to see. You, our global representatives, have to tax us, the ultra rich, and you have to start now.’
Prominent signatories include American actor Mark Ruffalo, and film producer and heiress Abigail Disney. In the UK, business leaders past and present from tech, food, and energy companies - including Photobox, Greggs, Riverford, COOK, and Ecotricity - signed the letter, which urges political leaders, 'Tax the ultra rich and do it now. It’s simple, common-sense economics. It is an investment in our common good...and as millionaires we want to make that investment.
Phil White, member of Patriotic Millionaires UK who is delivering the letter in Davos said, “We seem to be hitting crisis points again and again - globally and in the UK. The ordinary Brit faces a repeating round of economic body blows - and not a single political voice is taking it seriously enough. We can't endlessly ask hard pressed families to shoulder the cost of living crisis or our unravelling public services. If we want to get our country back on track then we have to invest in it - and what better way to pay for that investment than by taxing the ultra rich?”
A separate report conducted by Oxfam, the Institute for Policy Studies, Fight Inequality Alliance, and Patriotic Millionaires shows the growing level of extreme wealth. The report, based on data from Wealth X and Forbes, found the total number of people in the world with at least $5 million dollars in net wealth has grown by 52.9 percent in the last decade. Individuals with a net wealth of $50 million or more have grown at a similar rate of 50.3 percent. Meanwhile, the global billionaire class has more than doubled and their wealth has skyrocketed at a similar rate - 99.6 percent to be exact. This is a gain of more than $5.9 trillion.
In the UK the analysis found that the richest 1% of the British population possess more wealth than the bottom 70 per cent of Britons. There are 7,315 individuals in the UK with over £41 million ($50 million) with combined wealth of £912 billion. This group represents the top 0.01 per cent.
Support for action on extreme wealth from this growing number of millionaires comes as a poll of 135 economists, from 40 countries, shows that 71 percent think there is scope for raising taxes on the rich in their country over the coming five years. A similar share (71 percent) responded that rising inequality in their country is partly caused by falling taxes on the rich, and 73 percent think that the rich pay fewer taxes in proportion to their income than the average citizen in their country.
The report also highlights the extensive levels of public attitude polling on inequality and tax, conducted in G20 countries over the last six years, all of which show an overwhelming public support for taxing the rich. A poll conducted by Patriotic Millionaires UK in September 2022 found that 70% of people in the UK supported increasing taxes on the rich.
Marlene Engelhorn, co-founder of taxmenow, author, and millionaire signatory on the letter said, “The whole world - economists, publics, and millionaires alike - can see the solution that is staring us all right in the face: we have to tax the ultra rich. If we care about the safety of democracy, about our communities, and our planet we have to get this done. And yet our decision-makers either don’t have the gumption or don’t feel the need to listen to all of these voices. It begs the question, ‘What, or who, is stopping them?’”
According to the report analysis, if a wealth tax was introduced globally - starting at 2 per cent annually for those with more than $5 million, 3 per cent for those with over $50 million, and rising to 5 per cent annually for billionaires - the revenue potential could be $1.7 trillion a year. In the UK, the richest 4 people own as much as 20 million people. Introducing a wealth tax on those with over £41 million ($50 million), representing just 0.01 percent of the UK population, would raise nearly £23 billion a year, more than enough to cover a 10 percent pay rise for all public sector workers.
Jenny Ricks of Fight Inequality Alliance said, “Billions of people who are working, caring, and endlessly contributing to society are sick and tired of getting hit hardest by crises time and time again. People struggling to budget for the basics, even to survive, are constantly reminded that the richest are still getting richer. Our political leaders now have to respond to the growing clamour for change: they have the power to remove the crippling weight from the backs of ordinary people and put it onto the broad shoulders of the privileged few.”
The letter will be handed over in person in Davos by Patriotic Millionaires member Phil White and Marlene Engelhorn of taxmenow. It was circulated by Patriotic Millionaires and PMUK, Tax Me Now, Millionaires for Humanity, Fight Inequality Alliance, Institute for Policy Studies, and Oxfam.
The letter reminds political leaders that ‘Extremes are unsustainable, often dangerous, and rarely tolerated for long. So why, in this age of multiple crises, do you continue to tolerate extreme wealth?’
ENDS//
Notes to Editor
Download The Cost of Extreme Wealth, letter and list of signatories
Data on the richest individuals is from Wealth-X and figures on billionaires come from Forbes’s Billionaires List. Full report here.
Based on 2022 data from Wealth X and Forbes a tax of 3 and 5% respectively on those with more than £41 million (7315 people) and £829 million (48 on Forbes Rich List) would generate £22.996 billion ($27.721billion) in potential tax revenue.
Cost of a 10% public sector pay rise is based on figures from Ben Zaranko of Institute for Fiscal Studies in his analysis of the UK Government's projections for the cost of a public sector pay rise.
Review of public polling in G20 countries on inequality and taxation
Contact information
For interviews and further information contact Rebecca Gowland in the UK, Patriotic Millionaires, rgowland@patrioticmillionaires.org, +44 (0) 7968 821093
Millionaire spokespeople include:
Marlene Engelhorn, author and co-founder of taxmenow
Dr Phil White, engineer, consultant and founding member of Patriotic Millionaires UK
Dale Vince, founder of Ecotricity
