Sam Pizzigati

The Permanent Overclass - The American Prospect The NFL’s billionaire owners literally can’t lose when it comes to making money. On the field? That’s another matter.

Yes, our favorite pro football teams have become the “playthings of unqualified billionaires. But then again, what in America today doesn’t depend on the whims of unqualified billionaires? At least with football, we can boo them.” @rodger.bsky.social

Robert Reich: “The outer ring of hell will be reserved for CEOs who stayed silent so as not to rile the narcissist-in-chief.” Jamie Dimon “has uttered no criticism of Trump” other than to call his attack on Fed independence “probably not a great idea.” robertreich.substack.com/p/melania-th...

Here’s who topped the Fortune 500 in CEO pay last year—from Goldman’s David Solomon to Disney’s Bob Iger Goldman’s David Solomon clinched the top position in early 2025 pay rankings.

Enjoying Year One of Trump II: We don’t have all the final Fortune 500 #CEOpay figures yet for 2025, but Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon is so far leading the pack, up 21% over 2024 to $47 million. #inequality

Inside West Palm Beach’s Luxury Real Estate Boom Once overshadowed by Palm Beach Island, West Palm Beach is now commanding premium prices and attracting global luxury buyers.

Move over, Palm Beach. West Palm Beach now commands top-dollar pricing. Former Apple CEO John Sculley just picked up a West Palm penthouse for $40 mil after unloading his oceanfront Palm Beach estate. At West Palm’s costliest condominium, units top off at $70 mil.

The Richest 2026 Players: A.I., Crypto, Pro-Israel Groups and Trump All have amassed enormous war chests, new filings show, making them the financial wild cards of this year’s midterm elections and feared political spenders.

Our #plutocracy at work: Entering election year 2026, Donald Trump has his worst presidential polling #s — and his biggest-ever campaign war chest. His super PAC opened 2026 with $304 million in cash. @teddyschleifer.bsky.social

@patrioticmillionaires.org: We’d be “surprised” if the proposed California wealth tax sparks “an exodus of the state’s billionaires.” But even if it does, that should strengthen lawmaker “resolve to work together” to set “minimum tax standards on wealthy people like us.” mailchi.mp/patrioticmil...

“Increasingly, things that feel like taxes are eating up more and more of what people earn”: A large chunk of 2025’s increase in U.S. consumer spending went for health care, housing and utilities, and financial services, all “non-discretionary” outlays. www.thebignewsletter.com/p/the-boomce...

Are California’s Billionaires Crying Wolf? Uber-rich say they’ll flee if wealth tax proposal passes. History suggests otherwise.

Almost no historical evidence whatsoever exists to support the idea that higher state taxes cause rich people to move from where they live. “Tax flight” among the ultrawealthy remains largely a myth. #taxtherich

How Private Aviation Terminals Are Being Transformed Into Luxe Enclaves Fixed-base operations at airports from Orange County, CA to West Palm Beach, FL are being luxuriously updated for its customers.

“Increased demand for private jets alongside rising expectations from customers seeking five-star services” is turning private-jet airport complexes from “spartan waiting rooms and drip-coffee machines” into “ultra-swank private enclaves.” robbreport.com/motors/aviat...

The 10 richest people in the world as of 2026 and only 1 isn't American From Google to luxury goods, these billionaires are the richest of the rich.

How much wealth does a deep pocket need to rate as one of the 10 richest people on Earth? The equivalent of $136 billion. Nine Americans are now sitting above that threshold. #plutocracy #inequality

Clare Moriarty: No, objecting to the enormous wealth of billionaires is not begrudgery Why do we only talk about alleviating poverty, but not controlling runaway wealth?

“We used to worry about billionaires owning half of major media outlets, but newly pernicious is their almost total ownership of the artificial intelligence (#AI) platforms that increasingly impose on all aspects of life online.” @quiteclare.bsky.social www.irishtimes.com/opinion/2026...

The 10 richest people in the world as of 2026 and only 1 isn't American From Google to luxury goods, these billionaires are the richest of the rich.

How much wealth does a deep pocket need to rate as one of the 10 richest people on Earth? A net worth above the equivalent of $136 billion. Nine Americans are now sitting above that threshold. #plutocracy #inequality

How to Tax the Ultrarich Learn about the Fair Share Tax (FAST), a practical, constitutionally sound plan to tax the ultrarich, close loopholes, and prevent dynastic wealth accumulation.

America’s top 0.1% now hold $1 in every $6 of private US wealth, some $23 trillion. Vast fortunes shape our core civic institutions — and sit insulated from tax. A new @rooseveltinstitute.org report looks at how we could fix that situation.
@bdgesq.bsky.social rooseveltinstitute.org/publications...

An Anti-Affordability Agenda: Trump’s Advisors Call on States to Raise Taxes on the Working Class and Drastically Cut Taxes for the Rich The Trump administration’s Council of Economic Advisors suggests that states consider drastically raising sales taxes and using those new revenues to pay for repealing taxes on corporate and personal ...

Trump’s Council of Economic Advisors wants states to raise their sales tax rates and use the resulting revenue to repeal taxes on income, a plan that, if implemented, would amount to America's largest-ever legislated transfer of wealth from working to rich people. @itep.org
itep.org/trump-counci...

If the Net Worth of the Richest 1% Were Shared Equally, What Would That Mean for the Average American? Find out how much money you would take home.

If our richest 1% shared their wealth equally with the rest of America, our nation’s 132 million households would each receive nearly $393,000, over double the current net worth of the typical U.S. household. #inequality #plutocracy

Democracy at risk: Resisting the rule of the richest Oxfam’s 2026 inequality report charts the fortunes of the world’s billionaires and asks: is extreme wealth concentration incompatible with a democratic society?

“Last year alone, the fortunes of the world’s 3,000 or so billionaires increased by $2.5 trillion – an amount equivalent to the entire wealth held by the poorest half of humanity." @lseinequalities.bsky.social blogs.lse.ac.uk/inequalities...

“A new ‘blue wave’ of tax hikes on the wealthy is rippling through state legislatures” as Virginia, Washington, and Rhode Island join California in calls for higher taxes on their richest.

Charted below: states with the highest top-bracket tax rates.
www.cnbc.com/sign-up-for-...

Bernie Sanders: “Trump and his billionaire campaign contributors have been working overtime to create a two-tier education system: private schools for the wealthy & well-connected & severely under-funded public schools for low-income & working-class students.”
www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releas...

Should Billionaires Exist? The ultra-wealthy’s dominant power in our political system forces the question: Should America limit billionaire fortunes? A debate.

In a democratic society, we need a wealth tax, “not to punish the ultra-wealthy, but to prevent a tiny elite from wielding coercive power over everyone else’s lives.” @amyhanauer.bsky.social‬ democracyjournal.org/magazine/79/...

Is Trump’s Move to Rein in Private Equity For Real? Trump claims he will block private equity from buying single-family homes, but follow-through is doubtful.

Before 2011, no single U.S. investor owned over 1,000 single-family homes. By 2021, thanks to private equity kingpins, 446,000 homes sat in private investor hands — with dire results for families struggling to afford to buy a home of their own. @ceprdc.bsky.social cepr.net/publications...

The billionaire boys fight the wealth tax Across America, billionaires and their minions are working to defeat a proposed ballot measure in California that would marginally tax the assets of the ultra-rich.

The proposed Billionaire Tax Act that California labor activists are working to get on this November’s ballot would only impact the state’s 200 richest residents. Guess who’s going all out to stop this one-time 5% levy? @seiu1021.bsky.social
oligarchwatch.substack.com/p/the-billio...

Inside the White House Screening for Amazon’s ‘Melania’ Doc (Exclusive Photos) The White House held a private screening of the doc on Saturday night that included black-tied VIPs, monogrammed popcorn tubs and a military band playing movie tunes.

How low will US CEOs go to curry Trump favor? On Saturday, amid the Minneapolis horrors, guests at the White House screening of ’Melania,’ the boot-licking biopic Amazon has spent $75 mil bankrolling, included Apple’s Tim Cook & a host of other top execs.
www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie...

Billionaire CEOs Party With Trump and Melania After His Goons Kill Nurse Apple CEO Tim Cook traveled to the White House on the same day a Border Patrol agent shot a Veterans Affairs nurse dead in Minneapolis.

The richer the CEO, the more shameless . . .
www.thedailybeast.com/billionaire-...

Minnesota corporate CEOs just as cowardly — and unwilling to jeopardize their personal gravy trains — as their corporate brethren nationwide. More on our ongoing CEO outrages at Inequality.org . . .

The actual income average Americans are taking in has risen just 1.1% a year since 2010. From 1950 to 1980, an era of much greater equality, average U.S. income rose 2% a year. What is really rising today? Wealth at the top.
paulkrugman.substack.com/p/talking-wi...

Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List put Elon Musk’s estimated net worth at $787.2 billion as of 2:30 p.m. EST yesterday.

In the first Forbes 400 list in 1982, the grandest fortune Forbes found totaled $2 billion, about $6.7 billion in today's dollars.
#inequality #plutocracy

Oxfam: Trump’s agenda of championing deregulation and undermining corporate taxation has benefited the super rich everywhere. #Billionaire wealth, since the start of the #Trump era, has jumped 3x faster than the past five-year average. www.equals.ink/p/billionair...

Trump Brings His Phony Populism to Davos Nothing says “I care about working people” like a speech to an audience of billionaires at an exclusive Swiss ski resort.

Trump now plans to seek a 10% cap on credit card interest. But that move & his moves to end taxes on tips & allow car-loan interest write-offs amount to stunts meant to jolt voters into “pseudo-populist gratitude.” They’d expire after 2026’s elections. thenationmagazine.substack.com/p/trump-brin...

Only 10% of Americans, notes new Gallup analysis, now rate business execs “very high” or “high” on honesty and ethical standards. 75% give nurses high marks.

Median CEO pay at major firms hit $30.9 million last year.
Median nurse pay: $86,000.
news.gallup.com/poll/700736/...

Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Defending Freedom Against Billionaire Power | Oxfam International The future is equal

Our only daily reality more insane than a typical day’s Trump social media stream: In just four seconds, Elon Musk “earns’ what the average person makes in an entire year.
#oxfam