United CEO Scott Kirby says “wealth inequality has become a danger to our society.”
That’s why Kirby said he supports a nationwide wealth tax.
“We should have a national wealth tax — it won’t work by state because people will just move,” Kirby recently told The New York Times.
Kirby, who lives in the Chicago area near United’s headquarters, was one of the highest-paid CEOs of a public company in 2025, according to Crain’s Chicago Business. Kirby’s 2025 total compensation was valued at over $32 million, according to United’s filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.
Wealth taxes are facing one of their biggest tests yet this November. Californians will vote on what, if approved, would become the world’s first billionaire tax.
The fight is pitting some of the state’s wealthiest individuals against the proposal. Google cofounder Sergey Brin alone has donated $102 million to a group seeking to undercut the proposed wealth tax by proposing competing initiatives that could effectively cancel it out.
In addition to a wealth tax, Kirby also said that inheritance taxes should be increased.
“We should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100 percent at some level,” he said. “I would pay them.”
Kirby’s views may seem unusual among corporate leaders, but others are at least open to the idea of wealth taxes.
Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang recently reiterated his willingness to pay potentially billions of dollars if California’s wealth tax goes into effect.
“I don’t mind paying taxes,” Huang said. “The more you make, the more taxes you pay, so I’m OK with it.”
Huang, who famously got his start working at Denny’s, said he worries about other things. Bloomberg estimates that the Nvidia CEO is now worth $180 billion, making him the ninth richest person in the world.
“The fact that I can afford to pay $8 billion in taxes over five years is a privilege,” he said. “I’m not afraid of paying taxes. I’m just afraid of being poor.”
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