As the World Economic Forum held its annual summit in Davos, Switzerland, polling
released Wednesday showed that even millionaires are concerned about the wealthy's influence over Republican U.S. President Donald Trump, who started his second term earlier this week surrounded by Big Tech billionaires.
The poll, conducted in November and December by Survation on behalf of the U.S.-based group Patriotic Millionaires, is based on the responses of 2,902 people from G20 countries with investable assets over $1 million, excluding their homes.
Around two-thirds of them strongly or somewhat agreed that "superrich individuals interfered inappropriately in media, public, and political opinion in the 2024 U.S. election" (67%) and "the role the superrich will play in Donald Trump's presidency is a threat to global stability" (63%).
"When a superrich elite is determining the outcome of elections purely to protect their vested interests and accelerate profits, it's clear that we are in a terrifying age of wealth extremism."
Pollsters also found that over half of those surveyed believe that extreme wealth threatens democracy and the democratic stability of their country, and that political leaders lack the will to tackle extreme wealth. Nearly 70% of respondents said that the influence of the superrich is leading to a decline in trust in democracy.
Over 70% think that the ultrawealthy buy political influence and disproportionately sway public opinion through control of the media and social media platforms—and that their influence is leading to a decline in trust of the media and the justice system, according to the poll. Additionally, 72% favor raising taxes on the superrich to help reduce inequality and invest in public services.
The poll results were released alongside a letter to global leaders attending the Davos meeting, signed by more than 370 millionaires and billionaires from 22 countries, who
argued that "oligarchy cannot be born from the political fear of upsetting the superrich," so "you must tax us, the superrich."
Signatories include American filmmaker and Patriotic Millionaires member Abigail Disney, who
said in a statement that "it's easy to see the election of a figure like Donald Trump as an aberration, but that's not the case. Donald Trump—along with his so-called 'first buddy,' Elon Musk—is the final and inevitable conclusion of decades of inaction on the part of world leaders to put a check on extreme inequality."
Musk, a tech CEO and the richest person on the planet,
poured over a quarter-billion dollars into reelecting Trump, has often been seen at the president's side since his November win, and is leading the Republican's Department of Government Efficiency, a controversial presidential advisory commission created to pursue GOP dreams of slashing federal regulations and spending.
"It's hard to be optimistic about what lies ahead over the next four years—and maybe more—but if officials want to do something to ensure the stability of our democracies, they need only find the political resolve to once and for all tax wealthy people like me," said Disney.
Other signatories also shared that call, including Marlene Engelhorn, an Austrian-German who co-founded
taxmenow and said Wednesday that "the superrich are buying themselves more wealth and more power while the rest of the world is living in economic fear."
"We no longer have access to free and fair media; our political and legal systems can be bought; and our democracies are on very shaky ground," added Engelhorn, one of the representatives sharing the letter in Davos. "For all our sake, in every country, we have to tackle this now. Politicians need to show their mettle; they need to tax the superrich."
Scottish award-winning actor Brian Cox, who portrayed a billionaire named Logan Roy on the show
Succession, also signed on and said that "recent events have shown that the political influence of billionaires and those with extreme wealth is an extreme risk to society."
"The superrich now manage so much more than money: They manage what we read, what we watch, the information we're given, and ultimately, how we vote," he continued. "When a superrich elite is determining the outcome of elections purely to protect their vested interests and accelerate profits, it's clear that we are in a terrifying age of wealth extremism. Our leaders have lacked the backbone needed to rein in political capture and put ordinary people first. It's time we draw the line and tax the superrich."
