Zuckerberg Practically Begs Bernie to Smack Him With $5 Billion Tax
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg practically begged Bernie Sanders to smack him with a wealth tax that would erase $5 billion from his net worth. | Source: REUTERS / Yves Herman
Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg would pay more than $5 billion in wealth tax during the first year of a Bernie Sanders presidency. But the social media boss claims he wouldn’t mind the 8% hit to his net worth.
Mark Zuckerberg: ‘No one deserves to have that much money’
In a live-streamed Q&A session, the Facebook billionaire eagerly affirmed Sanders’ bold claim that the 0.1% of wealthiest Americans hold obscene amounts of wealth.
However, Zuckerberg declined to say what constituted the maximum wealth that an individual should be allowed to have, per CNBC :
“I don’t know that I have an exact threshold on what amount of money someone should have but on some level no one deserves to have that much money.”
While the Facebook CEO agreed that entrepreneurial efforts ought to be financially rewarded, he added a disclaimer, saying that “some of the wealth that can be accumulated is unreasonable.”
In September, the U.S. senator from Vermont unveiled the “Tax on Extreme Wealth ” plan targeting the richest 0.1% – or 180,000 U.S. households. At the time, the Democratic presidential candidate said: “billionaires should not exist.”
How much would Facebook CEO lose under Bernie’s wealth tax plan?
Bernie Sanders’ “Tax on Extreme Wealth” plan levies a 1% tax on households with a net worth of over $32 million. That tax rises to 8% on households whose wealth exceeds $10 billion.
Under the plan, Zuckerberg would pay $5.36 billion in wealth tax during the first year of a Sanders presidency. Currently, he has a net worth of $67 billion, making him the fourth wealthiest individual in the world, according to Forbes .
Fellow Democratic presidential hopeful Elizabeth Warren has also released a competing plan known as the “Ultra-Millionaire Tax ,” which would see billionaires incur an annual wealth tax of 3%. That means Mark Zuckerberg would pay about $2 billion in the first year of a Warren presidency.
Elizabeth Warren vs. Bernie Sanders: Is Zuckerberg barking up the wrong tree?
Clearly, Zuckerberg would be better off with Warren’s tax plan, to the tune of more than $3 billion in just one year.
However, at least according to a recently leaked audiotape, he seems more concerned about Warren’s plans for Silicon Valley.
The leak exposed Zuckerberg’s fear that if Warren is elected president, there would be an attempt to break up large tech companies like Facebook. He promised to “go to the mat” to stop her from achieving her goal.
“But look, at the end of the day, if someone’s going to try to threaten something that existential, you go to the mat and you fight.”
