Bernie Sanders’ proposed tax on billionaires would target roughly 900 individuals to provide $3,000 payments to middle-class families

Proposed Wealth Tax Targets America's Billionaires

Picture a gathering of around 900 people—the size of a modest concert hall, a small cruise ship, or a typical U.S. high school. Collectively, this group would possess more wealth than half the nation combined, as that's approximately the number of billionaires residing in the United States. Now, a new legislative proposal seeks contributions from this exclusive group to help fund substantial payments to millions of middle-class Americans.

Introducing the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act

On Monday, Senator Bernie Sanders and Representative Ro Khanna unveiled the Make Billionaires Pay Their Fair Share Act. This legislation proposes a 5% annual tax on individuals whose net worth exceeds $1 billion. According to Sanders, there are 938 billionaires in the U.S., collectively holding assets totaling $8.2 trillion.

How Would the Revenue Be Used?

The bill doesn't just aim to fill government coffers. In its first year, the funds raised would be used to provide a one-time payment of $3,000 to every American in a lower- or middle-income household, defined as those earning $150,000 or less.

Growing Momentum for Wealth Taxes

Although the bill faces significant hurdles in Congress, it reflects a broader movement to redistribute the fortunes of the ultra-wealthy. For example, a major labor union in California has pushed for a ballot initiative to impose a one-time 5% tax on billionaires in the state. This proposal has prompted some high-profile departures, including Google cofounders Sergey Brin and Larry Page, who have publicly announced their moves out of California. The Biden Administration also attempted a similar approach in 2023, proposing a 20% minimum income tax for households with at least $100 million in net worth, though it failed to gain traction.

Sanders' Vision for the Future

Sanders believes this new bill could break the mold. In a press release, he stated that future revenues would address urgent needs facing working families. Over the next decade, the tax is projected to generate $4.4 trillion. The funds would be used to restore $1.1 trillion in cuts to Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act, guarantee a minimum salary of $60,000 for public school teachers, and limit child care expenses to 7% of a family's income.

“At a time of unprecedented income and wealth inequality, this legislation demands that the billionaire class in America finally pay their fair share of taxes so that we can create an economy that works for all of us, not just the 1%,” Sanders emphasized in his statement.

Public Sentiment and the Billionaire Class

Growing numbers of Americans are expressing frustration with the nation's wealthiest citizens. A November 2025 Harris poll found that while 60% of Americans aspire to become billionaires themselves, 53% view billionaires as a threat to democracy—a notable increase from the previous year.

Analyzing the Impact of the Wealth Tax

Crunching the Numbers

Sanders’ press release references research by Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman from the University of California, Berkeley. Their analysis examined the long-term effects of a 5% annual wealth tax on the nation’s ten richest individuals, applying the tax retroactively for every year they have held billionaire status. Their findings suggest that such a tax would dramatically reduce billionaire fortunes over time.

• If Tesla CEO Elon Musk, currently the wealthiest American, had been subject to this tax since becoming a billionaire in 2012, his net worth would have dropped from $745 billion to $363 billion.
• Similarly, Google co-founder Larry Page’s wealth would have fallen from $258 billion to $83 billion if the tax had been in place since he reached billionaire status in 2004.

“Democracies become oligarchies when wealth becomes too concentrated,” the researchers wrote. “The US has now reached an unprecedented level of top wealth concentration.”

This article was originally published on Fortune.com.