Warren Buffett is a billionaire known for his frugality—still living in the same modest house he bought in 1958 and famously avoiding luxury. But what’s more surprising than his lack of a yacht is his willingness to call out the people who own them.
In a 2012 interview with Charlie Rose, Buffett didn’t hold back on the growing wealth gap. “We were promised that a rising tide would lift all boats. A rising tide has lifted all yachts.” His point? The economy may have grown, but the benefits didn’t trickle down the way Americans were told they would. The ultra-wealthy got richer, while everyday workers were left treading water. And for Buffett, that’s the real problem.
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“We have not had an ounce of shared sacrifice from the very rich,” he added in that same interview. In other words, billionaires keep winning, while the system does little to level the playing field.
If there’s one thing Buffett is, it’s consistent. In 2024, he was back at it, making the same argument he’s been making for over a decade: the tax system favors the ultra-wealthy, and that needs to change. At Berkshire Hathaway’s (NYSE:BRK, BRK.B)) annual meeting, he pointed out that if 800 companies had paid their fair share, everyday Americans wouldn’t owe a dime in federal taxes. His own company, he noted, paid over $5 billion at a 21% rate for 2023—and if Berkshire can do it, why can’t others?
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In an August interview with PBS NewsHour, JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) CEO Jamie Dimon weighed in on tax policy and the national debt, offering a surprising endorsement of higher taxes on the wealthy—specifically, the Buffett Rule.
“I would have a competitive national tax system, and then I would maximize growth,” Dimon said, adding that some tax increases might be necessary. “You would maybe just raise taxes a little bit—like the Warren Buffett type of rule, I would do that.”
The Buffett Rule, first proposed during the Obama administration, is based on a simple idea: anyone earning over $1 million a year should pay a minimum effective tax rate of 30%.
