This is what the net worth of the world’s elite would look like if Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan had been in effect since 1982
MarketWatch photo illustration/Getty Images, Bloomberg
Don’t worry, they’d still be doing just fine.
That’s not to say the uber wealthy wouldn’t get torched by Elizabeth Warren’s tax plan, but even if her proposal were in place for decades, the fortunes of men like Amazon’s AMZN, -0.86% Jeff Bezos and Microsoft MSFT, +1.29% founder Bill Gates would still be intact, according to TaxJusticeNow.org, a website founded by UC Berkeley economists Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman.
In fact, here’s a look at what the net worth of these guys would be today if Warren’s plan to levy a 6% tax on billionaires had been in place since 1982:
Gates drew laughs last week when he jokingly told a conference in New York that he’s “starting to do a little math” to figure out what he would have left over if he were to get hit with a $100-billion tax. Well, good news, Bill, it wouldn’t be nearly that much if these numbers are any indication.
As you can see, Gates would be down to his last $42.2 billion, Bezos would have less than $100 billion to his name and Berkshire Hathaway’s BRK.A, +0.03% Warren Buffett would have to get by on just $34.9 billion.
What would that mean for the trend of the rich getting richer and leaving everybody else behind? Better, but still, this chart tells that story:
No wonder billionaires like Leon Cooperman have tears in their eyes. Oh, and Warren has something for that, too:
For just $25, as the campaign advertisement cheekily suggests, you can “Savor a warm, slightly salty beverage of your choice in this union-made mug as you contemplate all the good a wealth tax could do: universal childcare, student debt cancellation, universal free college, and more.”
Meanwhile, billionaires like former Goldman Sachs GS, +0.37% Chairman Lloyd Blankfein, continue to feud with Warren in the public arena:
Shawn Langlois is an editor and writer for MarketWatch in Los Angeles. Follow him on Twitter @slangwise.
