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United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Wednesday reiterated his support for a wealth tax as a matter of fairness amid criticism over his comments given his compensation.
Kirby said in an interview with CNBC’s “Squawk Box” that his prior comments in favor of a wealth tax were in response to a New York Times question about a non-consensus view that he holds, adding that “I’m not a politician, I’m not ever going to be in politics, nor am I a policy advocate for this or other programs.”
“I think a wealth tax in particular is a more fair – is just about fairness. Today, you probably pay 40% income taxes on your income. But if you’re wealthy enough, you could put money aside – and by the way, I think it would apply to me – put money aside and let it grow forever, never realize income on it,” he said. “You can let it grow forever and it never gets taxed. You get stepped-up cost basis at the end, and it never gets taxed.”
“That doesn’t feel fair to me,” Kirby said, adding that those are his views “if it was up to me, it’s not up to me, so no one should be mad about one person’s view. But if it was, I would have a system where we have lower income taxes and higher taxes on – some kind of taxes on the gain in wealth. At some point, I think those ought to be taxed.”
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“It’s just a matter of fairness. You know, hard-working Americans pay 40% of their money in income [taxes]. I think as a matter of fairness, passive wealth growth ought to be taxed somehow. And it’s just one guy’s view, but that’s what I think,” Kirby said.
The United Airlines CEO told The New York Times in a recent interview that wealth inequality poses a “danger” to American society and said that he would support a national wealth tax as well as “inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level.”
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Kirby’s comments about wealth taxes and inequality have drawn attention to his compensation at United Airlines. He received about $32.3 million in total compensation, including salary, stock awards and performance incentives during the airline’s fiscal year 2025.
United didn’t respond to a previous inquiry from FOX Business about Kirby’s compensation, which included a question about whether he is planning to reduce his compensation to share more of his wealth with his employees.
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| Ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| UAL | UNITED AIRLINES HOLDINGS INC. | 101.67 | +3.90 | +3.99% |
During the CNBC interview, Kirby was asked about criticisms of how a wealth tax can punish entrepreneurs and if there are other ways to address his concerns about the stepped-up basis rather than trying to tax unrealized capital gains.
“This was one comment in a long-ranging interview. I’m not trying to define what the tax would look like or what it should be,” he said. “There’s a lot of different ways to skin that cat.”
“Passive wealth growth, you can just invest – that’s not an entrepreneur – you can just invest, put the money aside, it can grow tax-free until your death, then you get stepped-up cost basis. Literally, wealth growth never pays taxes, and that’s the point to me that feels unfair,” Kirby said. “I’m not a policy advocate, I’m not arguing for it.”
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