A rich Briton is among a group of millionaires in Davos pushing for governments to tax those like him more in order to bridge a wealth gap he warns is fragmenting the world.
In an interview on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum, Phil White said he was alarmed at how the rich got even richer while average people suffered during the Covid pandemic and as food and energy prices have skyrocketed.
“I am very happy to pay more taxes, I want my government to tax me and tax people like me,” White said.
White is among more than 200 “patriotic millionaires” from 13 countries sending the same message to the world’s political and global elite in the Swiss Alpine village of Davos for their annual meeting.
“We should be reducing levels of wealth,” said White.
“And government should be imposing wealth taxes to reduce inequalities.”
Among the millionaires in Davos sending an open letter Wednesday to the World Economic Forum calling for more taxes on the wealthy are “people who inherited, people who worked, entrepreneurs, traders, a whole mix of backgrounds,” he said.
An engineer, White said he did not inherit wealth but worked hard and became “nicely off” when he and his partners sold their consulting company to private equity holders.
His group includes people like the US actor Mark Ruffalo, who played the role of Hulk in the Marvel films, and an heir to the Disney empire, Abigail Disney.
He preferred increased taxes over philanthropy at a time when billionaires like Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett and Bill Gates make headlines pledging vast sums to good causes.
“We see philanthropy as being certainly a step in the right direction but it is really not the answer,” White said.
“If I give money to help homeless people or something, that solves the problem for a week, but it doesn’t really solve the root of the problem,” he said.
“We need to be very clear that philanthropy can sometimes be people hiding behind what looks good to the public,” he added.