'Taxing the Rich Won't Help': Jeff Bezos Defends the Ultra-Wealthy Amid Tax Debate — Zohran Mamdani Hits Back

Amazon executive chairman Jeff Bezos used a wide-ranging CNBC interview on Wednesday to argue that taxing the ultra-wealthy will not help ordinary Americans. He wants the government to scrap federal income tax for the bottom half of earners altogether.

'You could double the taxes I pay, and it's not gonna help that teacher in Queens. I promise you,' Bezos told Andrew Ross Sorkin on Squawk Box from Merritt Island, Florida.

The remark landed fast on social media.

New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani, a self-described democratic socialist who took office in January, fired back within hours.

'I know a few teachers in Queens who would beg to differ,' Mamdani wrote on X.

Bezos is worth more than $270 billion (£204 billion), making him the world's fourth-richest person. He described the US as 'a tale of two economies' and accused politicians of 'using the age-old technique of picking a villain and pointing fingers.'

The bottom 50 per cent of US taxpayers earned an average adjusted gross income of roughly $54,000 (£40,800) in 2023, according to the Tax Foundation, and contributed about 3 per cent of all federal income tax revenue. The top 1 per cent covered roughly 40 per cent.

'I don't think it should be 3 per cent. I think it should be zero,' Bezos said. 'There's something very powerful about zero.'

He went further. Asked about the so-called 'buy, borrow, die' strategy — where billionaires borrow against assets to sidestep taxable income — Bezos flatly denied it exists. 'There's no truth to this buy, borrow, die thing,' he told Sorkin.

Bezos Tax Record Under Spotlight as Wealth Tax Bills Multiply

Bezos insisted he pays 'billions of dollars in taxes.' A 2021 ProPublica investigation, drawing on leaked IRS data, found he paid an effective tax rate of less than 1 per cent between 2014 and 2018. His wealth ballooned by $99 billion (£74.8 billion) over that stretch. In 2007 and 2011, he paid zero federal income tax.

The interview comes as wealth-tax proposals multiply. Washington state approved a millionaires' tax in March; Massachusetts, Maryland, and Maine have enacted high-income levies in recent years; and California voters will decide in November on a one-time 5 per cent tax on residents worth $1 billion (£755 million) or more. Senator Elizabeth Warren introduced the Ultra-Millionaire Tax Act of 2026 in March — a 2 per cent annual tax on households worth more than $50 million (£37.8 million), with a 1 per cent surcharge for billionaires.

Mamdani's Tax-the-Rich Agenda Draws Bezos Into the Fray

The clash raises the profile of Mamdani's fiscal platform. He and Governor Kathy Hochul are pushing a pied-à-terre tax on luxury second homes valued at $5 million (£3.78 million) or more. Mamdani says the measure could bring in $500 million (£378 million) a year. The city's comptroller puts the figure closer to $340 million (£257 million).

Bezos, who owns property in New York, said the pied-à-terre tax is 'a fine thing for New York to do.' He took issue with the delivery. On Tax Day, Mamdani posted a viral video standing outside a Manhattan building where Citadel CEO Ken Griffin owns a $238 million (£180 million) penthouse. 'It isn't right' to 'act like he is some kind of villain,' Bezos said of Griffin.

There is little sign the mayor's stance has deterred corporate investment. JPMorgan Chase opened its new global headquarters at 270 Park Avenue last year, American Express announced in February it would build a new Manhattan headquarters, and contracts on luxury apartments priced above $10 million (£7.55 million) surged 80 per cent in May year on year, NBC News noted.

An April Fox News poll found the thing bothering Americans most about federal income taxes was that 'the wealthy are not paying enough.' Federal tax hikes, however, remain a non-starter while Republicans control both chambers of Congress and the White House.

Bezos posted his own follow-up on X later that evening: 'A nurse in Queens shouldn't be sending money to Washington. Washington should be sending her an apology.'