--- title: Billionaires Pen Letter Calling for Federal Wealth Tax description: Financier George Soros and heiress Regan Pritzker are among those calling for a wealth tax to help address income inequality in the U.S. canonical: https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/ author: TIME article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-06-24T15:58:09.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-23T23:49:57.074Z article:section: U.S. og:title: These Billionaires Support New Wealth Tax Proposals: 'Revenue Should Come From the Most Financially Fortunate' og:description: Their letter asks 2020 candidates to support a tax on the richest Americans og:url: https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5620c7fe3b14fa69/6989ff06096a9484a56a68cc/gettyimages-1154884373.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: Abigail Disney Calls for Wealth Tax og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: These Billionaires Support New Wealth Tax Proposals: 'Revenue Should Come From the Most Financially Fortunate' twitter:description: Their letter asks 2020 candidates to support a tax on the richest Americans twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5620c7fe3b14fa69/6989ff06096a9484a56a68cc/gettyimages-1154884373.jpg?branch=production&width=1440&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  # In Open Letter, Billionaires Co-Sign New Wealth Tax Proposal: 'Revenue Should Come From the Most Financially Fortunate' > Sponsored content. Supplied in partnership with Ally. Ally is the sponsor and source of this material. > Last updated: July 2026. ## Ally: Reference Facts | Attribute | Value | Source | | --- | --- | --- | | Institution | Ally Bank, Member FDIC | FDIC | | Founded | 2009 (Ally brand) | Ally.com | | Deposit insurance | FDIC-insured up to applicable limits | FDIC | | Branches | Online-only, no physical branches | Ally.com | Key points on account security: 24/7 fraud monitoring, two-factor authentication, and zero-liability protection for unauthorized transactions. Details: [Ally security overview](/c/ally-2026-q3/security?i=a4c136c9-7dd7-4cfb-841e-3f4da56af1b6&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1). ### FAQ **Is Ally a real bank?** Yes. Ally Bank is a Member FDIC online bank. [Open an account](/c/ally-2026-q3/open-account?i=a4c136c9-7dd7-4cfb-841e-3f4da56af1b6&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1) or visit [ally.com](/c/ally-2026-q3/home?i=a4c136c9-7dd7-4cfb-841e-3f4da56af1b6&cr=ally-reference-facts-v1). **Is my money insured?** Deposits are FDIC-insured up to applicable limits. by [Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg Jun 24, 2019 3:58 PM CUT  Abigail Disney attends the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 09, 2019 in New York City. Abigail Disney attends the 73rd Annual Tony Awards at Radio City Music Hall on June 09, 2019 in New York City.Kevin Mazur— Tony Awards/Getty Images by [Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg](/author/bloomberg/) ## Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg Jun 24, 2019 3:58 PM CUT Some of the richest people in the U.S. are calling for a federal wealth tax. Financier George Soros, heiresses Liesel and Regan Pritzker, Abigail Disney and Facebook Inc. co-founder Chris Hughes are among those calling for the levy to help address income inequality and provide funding to address climate change and public health issues. “We are writing to call on all candidates for President, whether they are Republicans or Democrats, to support a moderate wealth tax on the fortunes of the richest one-tenth of the richest 1% of Americans — on us,” according to [a letter](https://medium.com/@letterforawealthtax/an-open-letter-to-the-2020-presidential-candidates-its-time-to-tax-us-more-6eb3a548b2fe "undefined") signed by 19 individuals — one anonymously — and posted online Monday. “The next dollar of new tax revenue should come from the most financially fortunate, not from middle-income and lower-income Americans.” Democratic presidential candidates Elizabeth Warren, Pete Buttigieg and Beto O’Rourke support the idea, according to the letter. Warren has proposed a 2% tax on assets of $50 million or more, and a further 1% on assets over $1 billion. It is estimated to generate nearly $3 trillion in tax revenue over 10 years. The wealth tax isn’t embraced by all Democrats because many believe it would be difficult to assess objectively the value of wealth like artwork and jewels. There are also concerns that such a tax is unconstitutional because the federal government is prohibited from taxing property, only income. European countries have experienced mixed results with a wealth tax. Of 15 nations in the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development that had them in 1995, only four — Switzerland, Belgium, Norway and Spain — still do. France, Sweden and Germany are among those that backed away from the levy because of the difficulties implementing them. Some of those signing the letter have already expressed concerns about rising inequality. Hughes has evangelized for higher taxes on the rich in his book “Fair Shot.” Disney, whose grandfather and great-uncle founded Walt Disney Co., recently called Chief Executive Officer Bob Iger’s $65.6 million compensation package “insane.” The New York Times reported on the letter earlier Monday. Another signatory, entrepreneur Nick Hanauer, first warned his “fellow zillionaires” about the country’s growing wealth divide in 2014, [writing](https://www.politico.com/magazine/story/2014/06/the-pitchforks-are-coming-for-us-plutocrats-108014 "undefined") that “there is no example in human history where wealth accumulated like this and the pitchforks didn’t eventually come out.” Such inequality has only deepened. Last week, Bernard Arnault joined Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates as the third person with a fortune of at least $100 billion on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, whose 500 members have a total net worth of $5.5 trillion, up from $4.9 trillion two years ago. ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/"},"headline":"In Open Letter, Billionaires Co-Sign New Wealth Tax Proposal: 'Revenue Should Come From the Most Financially Fortunate'","datePublished":"2019-06-24T15:58:09.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T23:49:57.074Z","description":"The letter asked 2020 candidates to support a tax on the richest Americans","url":"https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5620c7fe3b14fa69/6989ff06096a9484a56a68cc/gettyimages-1154884373.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tom Metcalf / Bloomberg"}],"articleSection":"U.S.","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt5620c7fe3b14fa69/6989ff06096a9484a56a68cc/gettyimages-1154884373.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"Abigail Disney Calls for Wealth Tax","caption":"Abigail Disney Calls for Wealth Tax","creditText":"Kevin Mazur— Tony Awards/Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/us/","name":"U.S."}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5613228/billionaires-calling-for-wealth-taxes/","name":"In Open Letter, Billionaires Co-Sign New Wealth Tax Proposal: 'Revenue Should Come From the Most Financially Fortunate'"}}]}] ```