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Taxing all 938 billionaires at 100% wouldn’t stop the $40 trillion national debt, says Elon Musk. Bernie Sanders says tax them 5% and send you a check

9 0
23.08.2026

Taxing all 938 billionaires at 100% wouldn’t stop the $40 trillion national debt, says Elon Musk. Bernie Sanders says tax them 5% and send you a check

Taxing all 938 billionaires at 100% wouldn’t stop the $40 trillion national debt, says Elon Musk. Bernie Sanders says taxing them 5% cuts you a check

The richest person in the world and the most well-known person leading the cause against creating more people like him have many differing views on taxing the ultrawealthy.

But now, Elon Musk and Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), two men on opposite ends of the ideological spectrum, are using the same math to make opposite arguments for how much billionaires should be taxed, and how that money should be allocated.

In Musk’s view, collecting every cent billionaires rake in pales in comparison to federal debt, which just hit $40 trillion and counting.

“Even if you tax every billionaire in America at 100%, it barely makes a dent in the national debt,” Musk wrote on X in 2023. “In the end, the government will be forced to tax everyone to pay the debt.”

Sanders agrees—but he’s not looking to tax billionaires for all their worth and he’s not trying to eliminate the debt. Instead, he wants enough to give nearly three-quarters of the nation a nice check, offset cuts to federal health programs, and........

© Fortune