“I’d rather have an economy that makes a 1000 millionaires than one billionaire,” Michigan Senate candidate Abdul El-Sayed said in a clip posted to his X account.
The basis of El-Sayed’s argument is wealth redistribution. One thousand millionaires is equal to just one billionaire, meaning the capital is the same, it’s just spread across the greater population.
“Most billionaires don’t park their money making more businesses. They park their money in the stock market. That is not meaningfully investing in opportunity, it’s just investing in other billionaires,” El-Sayed argued.
The redistribution argument
The Michigan Senate candidate takes the example of NVIDIA, arguing that a billionaire investing in its stock isn’t helping make new jobs. El-Sayed also said this is especially relevant since the top 7 companies on the Fortune 500 are making the most money, while “everyone else is kind of dipping.”
El-Sayed, who is a progressive Democrat, has previously argued billionaires should face regulations that require them to help build vital infrastructure, like schools and roads. El-Sayed doubled down on that argument in the clip on X, saying the strongest economy will come from greater wealth distribution.
“If you’re serious about building the most productive possible economy, take that excess money that would have been parked into the S&P 500 and invest it in good schools, good infrastructure, health care, child care, which by the way, all make jobs, a ton of jobs, most of which are very difficult to automate,” El-Sayed argued.
The billionaire problem
Whether billionaires are good for the economy is a question that’s been met with fierce debate. Other progressive politicians like Senator Bernie Sanders have campaigned for a wealth tax on billionaires, even likening them to oligarchs. New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani has also taken aim, saying he doesn’t think billionaires should even exist.
The argument against billionaires typically focuses on wealth remaining at the top and the need for greater redistribution. Critics often argue that concentrated wealth drives inequality, creates monopolies and influences politics. Supporters of policies like that billionaire tax say the ultra wealthy should be forced to pay higher taxes so their money can be shared.
But others have argued billionaires actually serve the economy — and their mass fortunes and investments help stimulate growth.
While El-Sayed argues that stock investments are not productive for the economy, supporters of billionaires say it’s these investments that help prop up profitable companies, many of which employ thousands of people.
