{"id":48368,"date":"2026-05-21T11:55:27","date_gmt":"2026-05-21T18:55:27","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/occupysf.net\/?p=48368"},"modified":"2026-05-21T11:55:28","modified_gmt":"2026-05-21T18:55:28","slug":"bond-villain-jeff-bezos-claims-you-could-double-the-taxes-i-pay-and-it-wont-help-anyone","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/bond-villain-jeff-bezos-claims-you-could-double-the-taxes-i-pay-and-it-wont-help-anyone\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018Bond Villain\u2019 Jeff Bezos Claims \u2018You Could Double the Taxes I Pay\u2019 and It Won\u2019t Help Anyone"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/america-business-forum-day-2.jpg?id=66702171&amp;width=1200&amp;height=400&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=0%2C226%2C0%2C1441\" alt=\"America Business Forum - Day 2\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks at the America Business Forum on November 6, 2025 in Miami, Florida.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u00a0(Photo by Alexander Tamargo\/Getty Images for America Business Forum)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">\u201cToo much money contorts any human being,\u201d said one critic of the Amazon founder.<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>May 20, 2026 (CommonDreams.org)<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Amazon founder&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/jeff-bezos\">Jeff Bezos<\/a>&nbsp;drew ridicule on Wednesday after he claimed that doubling the amount of taxes he pays wouldn\u2019t be beneficial to society.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>During an interview on CNBC, journalist Andrew Ross Sorkin asked Bezos about arguments made by Sen.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/elizabeth-warren\">Elizabeth Warren<\/a>&nbsp;(D-Mass.) that the super-rich have lower effective tax rates than average Americans given how much of their wealth comes from unrealized capital gains and not traditional income earned through actual labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>RECOMMENDED&#8230;<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/are-readers-meant-to-take-this-seriously-economist-refutes-latest-attack-on-wealth-tax-by-bezos-washington-post\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/america-business-forum-day-2.jpg?id=66702171&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=833%2C0%2C834%2C0\" alt=\"America Business Forum - Day 2\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/are-readers-meant-to-take-this-seriously-economist-refutes-latest-attack-on-wealth-tax-by-bezos-washington-post\">\u2018Are Readers Meant to Take This Seriously?\u2019: Economist Refutes Latest Attack on Wealth Tax by Bezos\u2019 Washington Post<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/bezos-met-gala-backlash\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/media-library\/protesters-gather-blocks-away-from-where-the-met-gala-is-being-held-in-manhattan-on-may-4-2026-in-new-york-city.jpg?id=66687419&amp;width=1200&amp;height=1200&amp;quality=70&amp;coordinates=170%2C0%2C171%2C0\" alt=\"A Four-Word Response for Those Upset With Jeff Bezos for Any Number of Reasons: 'Tax the Damn Rich'\"\/><\/a><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/news\/bezos-met-gala-backlash\">A Four-Word Response for Those Upset With Jeff Bezos for Any Number of Reasons: \u2018Tax the Damn Rich\u2019<\/a><\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cI pay billions of dollars in taxes,\u201d replied Bezos, whom Forbes\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.forbes.com\/real-time-billionaires\/\" target=\"_blank\">estimates<\/a>\u00a0is worth $267 billion. \u201cIf people want me to pay billions more, then let\u2019s have that debate. But don\u2019t pretend, you know, that that\u2019s going to solve the problem. You could double the taxes I pay, and it\u2019s not gonna help that teacher in Queens, I promise you.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter\"><div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\"><p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Bezos on CNBC: &quot;You could double the taxes I pay, and it&#39;s not gonna help that teacher in Queens. I promise you.&quot; <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/ocbf34XZhA\">pic.twitter.com\/ocbf34XZhA<\/a><\/p>&mdash; Aaron Rupar (@atrupar) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/atrupar\/status\/2057072866542190941?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 20, 2026<\/a><\/blockquote><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script>\n<\/div><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>A 2021&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.propublica.org\/article\/the-secret-irs-files-trove-of-never-before-seen-records-reveal-how-the-wealthiest-avoid-income-tax\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">investigation<\/a>&nbsp;by Pro Publica found that Bezos\u2019 effective tax rate of less than 1% between 2014 and 2018, as he paid a total of $973 million in taxes over a period in which his net worth grew by $99 billion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>As&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/itep.org\/washington-post-rich-not-paying-fair-share\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">explained<\/a>&nbsp;by the Institute of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/taxation\">Taxation<\/a>&nbsp;and Policy (ITEP), this effective tax rate was \u201csignificantly lower\u201d than the tax rate paid by middle-class Americans over that period.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere were multiple years where Bezos paid nothing at all in income taxes,\u201d ITEP noted. \u201cWhile having billions of dollars of wealth, Bezos consistently avoided income tax by offsetting earned income with other investment losses and various deductions, all while Amazon stock was rapidly rising.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Democratic congressional candidate Melat Kiros in Colorado&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/MelatKirosCO\/status\/2057103737924304951\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">suggested<\/a>&nbsp;Bezos had a point about taxation\u2014\u201cbecause we tax income, not wealth.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DarrigoMelanie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a>\u201cBezos takes out a tiny salary, pays the income tax, and lives off loans borrowed against his stocks, basically tax-free,\u201d said Kiros. \u201cThey all do this and now 935 billionaires hold more wealth than 170 million Americans. It\u2019s time to tax wealth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong><\/strong>Melanie D\u2019Arrigo, executive director of the Campaign for New York Health, took issue with Bezos\u2019 claim that doubling his taxes would produce no benefits.<br><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DarrigoMelanie\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cJeff Bezos paid $500 million for his super-yacht and $75 million for his super-yacht\u2019s mini-yacht\u2014both of which he\u2019s allowed to write off on his taxes,\u201d she&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/DarrigoMelanie\/status\/2057084694991114514\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>&nbsp;in a&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/tag\/social-media\">social media<\/a>&nbsp;post. \u201cThat alone would cover $180 in classroom supplies for every public school teacher in the US.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Craig Harrington, research director at Media Matters for America, marveled at how out of touch Bezos seemed to be.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThere\u2019s a funny thing about being uber wealthy,\u201d he&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/craigipedia.bsky.social\/post\/3mmbvqxe2qk24\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">observed<\/a>. \u201cThey get so rich that they lose all sense of place, they essentially manifest as stateless people with no connection to or understanding of the world outside their private airports and resplendent villas.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Journalist and screenwriter David Simon expressed a similar view of the impact of immense wealth on Bezos\u2019 psyche.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cToo much money contorts any human being,\u201d Simon&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/bsky.app\/profile\/audacityofdespair.bsky.social\/post\/3mmbythpam22z\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">wrote<\/a>. \u201cAnd what was once a man is now, for the rest of the world, a fully metastasized cancer.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Author Hemant Mehta, meanwhile, simply\u00a0<a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/hemantmehta\/status\/2057083035246371287\" target=\"_blank\">wondered<\/a>\u00a0if Bezos \u201cauditioning to be the next Bond villain.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Brad Reed<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Brad Reed is a staff writer for Common Dreams.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.commondreams.org\/author\/brad-reed\">Full Bio &gt;<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Amazon founder Jeff Bezos speaks at the America Business Forum on November 6, 2025 in Miami, Florida. \u00a0(Photo by Alexander Tamargo\/Getty Images for America Business Forum) \u201cToo much money contorts any human being,\u201d said one critic of the Amazon founder. Brad Reed May 20, 2026 (CommonDreams.org) Amazon founder&nbsp;Jeff Bezos&nbsp;drew ridicule&#8230; <a class=\"continue-reading-link\" href=\"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/2026\/05\/21\/bond-villain-jeff-bezos-claims-you-could-double-the-taxes-i-pay-and-it-wont-help-anyone\/\"> Continue reading <span class=\"meta-nav\">&rarr; <\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[1916],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48368"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=48368"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48368\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":48369,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/48368\/revisions\/48369"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=48368"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=48368"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/occupysf.net\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=48368"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}