Billionaire-Hunter Elizabeth Warren Wants to Explain Her Wealth Tax to Bill Gates

Democratic 2020 U.S. presidential candidate Sen. Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax proposal is spooking the country's billionaires.| Source: REUTERS/Eric Thayer

Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren has offered to meet with Bill Gates to explain her proposal for a wealth tax.

The Massachusetts Senator reached out to the Microsoft founder in a tweet on Wednesday evening.

I'm always happy to meet with people, even if we have different views. @BillGates, if we get the chance, I'd love to explain exactly how much you'd pay under my wealth tax. (I promise it's not $100 billion.) https://t.co/m6G20hDNaV

— Elizabeth Warren (@ewarren) November 7, 2019

In her tweet, Warren wrote:

I’m always happy to meet with people, even if we have different views. @BillGates, if we get the chance, I’d love to explain exactly how much you’d pay under my wealth tax. (I promise it’s not $100 billion.)

Warren made the offer after Gates questioned whether she would be interested in meeting up.

Speaking with The New York Times writer Andrew Ross Sorkin at the DealBook conference on Wednesday, Gates joked:

I’m not sure how open-minded she is, or that she’d even be willing to sit down with somebody who has large amounts of money.

Elizabeth Warren’s Wealth Tax

Gates made the comments while discussing Elizabeth Warren’s wealth tax at the conference.

According to the Washington Post, Warren would legislate a six percent tax on assets worth more than one billion dollars.

The billionaire said that although he supports a progressive tax system, there is a limit on how much he would be willing to pay.

Speaking at the conference, Gates said:

I’ve paid over $10 billion in taxes. I’ve paid more than anyone in taxes. If I had to pay $20 billion, it’s fine. But when you say I should pay $100 billion, okay then I’m starting to do a little math about what I have left over… I’m just kidding.

Billionaires against Warren

Gates is one of a few billionaires over the past month to express concerns over Warren’s tax plans.

Hedge fund manager Marc Larsy advised investors at Greenwich Economic Forum on Wednesday to short the market if Warren won the Democratic Party nomination.

The Galaxy Digital CEO Michael Novogratz has also described Warren’s wealth tax as not “the way to go”

Last modified: September 23, 2020 1:15 PM

bill gates Elizabeth Warren

November 7, 2019 7:00 AM

Laurence Watt

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