In 2024, wealth concentration rises to an all-time high. According to Forbes billionaires listNot only are there more billionaires than ever—2,781—but those billionaires are richer than ever, with a combined wealth of $14.2 trillion. This is a trend that looks set to continue unabated. ONE recent report from financial data firm Altrata estimates that about 1.2 million individuals with assets above $5 million will transfer nearly $31 trillion in collective wealth over the next decade.
Dissatisfaction and concern about the consequences of excessive wealth in our society are growing. For example, Senator Bernie Sanders has stated that “America's obscene income levels and wealth inequality are a profound moral problem.“In one General article for CNN in 2023, Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality is a threat to our economy and democracy.” In 2024, when Tesla's board of directors voted on a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk, several major shareholders voted against it, declaring that such compensation was “unreasonable” and “unreasonable.”ridiculous.”
In 2025, the fight against growing wealth inequality will be at the top of the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20—the world's 20 largest economies—agreed to implement Brazil's proposal to introduce a “billionaire tax” that would impose a 2% tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. This would raise about $250 billion per year. Although this specific proposal was not adopted in the Rio declaration, the G20 countries Agree that the super rich should be taxed more.
Progressive politicians won't be the only ones trying to tackle this problem. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. One such movement is Patriotic millionairea nonpartisan group of millionaires who have publicly campaigned and privately lobbied the United States Congress to ensure a living wage for all, a fair tax system, and protection of representation equal representation. “Millionaires and large corporations—those who benefit most from our country's wealth—should pay a larger percentage of the cost of running the country.,” reads their value proposition. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear and investor Lawrence Benenson.
Another example is TaxiNowa lobby group founded in 2021 by young millionaires in Germany, Austria and Switzerland, which also advocates higher wealth taxes. Its most famous member is Marlene Engelhorn, 32, a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of German pharmaceutical giant BASF. She recently formed a panel of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what should happen to her 25 million euro inheritance. “I have inherited a fortune and therefore power without having to do anything to get 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 Millionaire, TaxMeNow, Oxfam and another activist group called Millionaire for humanity formed a coalition called Proud to Pay More, and sent a letter to global leaders at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos. Signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals—including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg, and filmmaker Richard Curtis—the letter reads: “We all know that ‘little economics drops' has not yet become a reality. Instead, it brought us stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, failing public services and destabilization of democracy itself.” It concluded: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it is too late. Make your country proud. Taxing excessive wealth.” In 2025, thanks to the nascent movement of activist millionaires, these calls will be even louder.