Together with those in the prestigious $100 billion clubs, America’s ultrarich have been dragged out for being shielded by the law for not paying their fair share of taxes.
The latest rally in tech stocks has fueled the addition of a new member to the $100 billion wealth club in the person of Steve Ballmer. Per a Bloomberg report, Ballmer, who currently owns the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers served as the Chief Executive Officer of the tech giant Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ: MSFT) and stepped down in 2014 has grown his wealth by $20.1 billion this year alone.
Steve Ballmer is the ninth member of the $100 billion networth club, a group dominated majorly by tech CEOs and entrepreneurs. Amongst the prominent names in the group include Jeff Bezos, the Chairman of Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN), Mark Zuckerberg, the billionaire founder and CEO of Facebook Inc (NASDAQ: FB), and Elon Musk, SpaceX founder and the Chief Executive Officer of electric automaker Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA).
Consistency in wealth growth through increment in share prices accounts for one of the major ways these business moguls grow their wealth. The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has placed a renewed focus on some of these tech stocks, as the underlying product and service these firms brandish were vital for consumers during that period. Amazon and Jeff Bezos are prime examples. Retail and consumer sales surged, and renewed investor’s interest to continue to bet big on the stock.
A tenth member would have been added to the Billionaire’s club, however, Larry Ellison, the founder of Oracle Corporation (NYSE: ORCL) fell short of the mark as his networth crested at $98.6 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Ellison has grown his wealth by $18.9 billion this year.
The $100 Billion Club and the Tax Avoidance
Together with those in the prestigious $100 billion clubs, America’s ultrarich have been dragged out for being shielded by the law for not paying their fair share of taxes. According to an earlier Coinspeaker report, ProPublica, an independent media outlet has shown that America’s ultrarich individuals pay less tax when compared to their actual wealth growth for years.
Citing billionaires like Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Warren Buffett amongst others, the report, which was frowned at by authorities highlighted that appropriate taxation on the wealth gains of these rich men has not been consistent and fair when compared to the average American. This report has renewed calls for revising the tax code by the Senate Finance Committee Chairman Ron Wyden, an Oregon Democrat.
In the present administration, President Joe Biden is looking to toughen his stance on the avenues that make the richer citizens pay less tax. The plans to achieve this include doubling the capital gains tax to 39.6%, and toughening the rules governing trusts, estates, and other vehicles often used by millionaires and billionaires to reduce their tax bills.
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