1 in 5 Americans thinks it’s ‘morally wrong’ to be a billionaire—Gen Z in particular finds it distasteful

In the home of the American Dream, approximately one in five adults believes it’s morally wrong to sit on vast sums of wealth. That being said, the vast majority of Americans argue being uber-rich isn’t a matter of ethics.

There have never been more billionaires on the planet than in 2026: According to an Oxfam report released earlier this year, there are now more than 3,000 people sitting on 10-digit fortunes. Leading the ranks is Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who has a net worth of $659 billion, followed by Alphabet cofounder Larry Page at $264 billion. Fellow Alphabet founder Sergey Brin comes next, followed by Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg.

However, 18% of average Americans would say their vast sums of wealth is “morally wrong.”

A survey released Thursday by Pew Research asked more than 3,000 people their opinions on the ethics of certain issues. On being “extremely rich” (as defined by having billions of dollars) the majority—63%—argued it was not an ethical question. Indeed, a further 18% said........

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