Is it fair for the richest people in the world to pay so little tax? In a time of extreme inequality, it is strange that those who have so much contribute so little to tax. These are the questions that US Democratic Senator Ron Wyden has been asking for new taxes on billionaires.
Does it seem fair that my democracy might have certain demands of me? How do I show that I am super edgy, and not afraid to pay more tax? These were the questions that Elon Musk apparently sought to answer when Wyden tweeted him asking why Wyden looked like he was having an affair in his profile photo.
Is it because ur pp looks like you just arrived? -- Lorde Edge (@elonmusk) November 7, 2021
Musk's crude tweet caps an interesting weekend for the world’s richest man. He didn't seem able to get the answer he sought when he polled the internet about wealth.
Musk asked his Twitter followers of 63 million whether he should sell 10% of Tesla stock. This is important because Musk doesn't have to sell stock in order to avoid being taxed on his main source of wealth (he currently owns 17 percent of Tesla stock worth approximately $200 billion). Wyden and other politicians sought to change this situation by proposing to tax annually unsold assets such as stocks belonging to the United States’ wealthiest citizens, approximately 700 billionaires. Wyden's proposal has been rejected.
Musk stated it in a separate tweet, "I don't take any cash salary or bonus from anyone." Stock is all I have, so the only way to pay taxes for me personally is to sell it.
I will accept the results of this poll regardless of how it turns out -- Lorde Edge (@elonmusk), November 6, 2021
Musk's Twitter followers made it clear that Elon should sell his stock. 57.9 per cent of the 3.5 million participants voted "yes" in the poll. This means that Musk should pay more tax than he already does. (Interestingly, Musk's Tesla stock options structure means that he will likely be subject to a large tax bill, regardless of what the Twitter poll results.
Musk, who said he would "abide by this poll, however it turns out," hasn’t commented on the poll’s results. Instead, Musk sent Wyden a tweet after Wyden pointed out that the outcome of a Twitter poll "should not depend on whether or not the world’s wealthiest man pay any taxes at all."
This shocking suggestion that there might be a way to settle questions of great public importance, such as billionaires' tax rates outside of Musk's Twitter account, was apparently too much for Elon. He's probably too busy with paperwork and preparation to fulfill his promise to sell his stock, so he won't be able to provide a more coherent reply.
