61-year-old holds at least $68M in his IRA by stashing stakes in promising startups into retirement funds and watching them balloon

He was one of more than 1,000 people with IRA balances of at least $25 million in 2024, the latest year with available data, according to the Wall Street Journal. That’s more than double the number of people reported in 2019. The number of people with IRA’s with $10 million or more has also risen significantly. About 11,600 people have hit that mark, up from just over 3,600 in 2019.

How insiders grow their IRA’s

IRA’s and workplace retirement accounts like 401(k)s are meant to help Americans save for old age by providing tax incentives. For the ultra wealthy — and those with insider connections — these accounts have become a way to grow their fortunes and avoid paying a lot more to Uncle Sam.

According to the Wall Street Journal, well-connected investors are using these tax-advantageous retirement accounts to purchase undervalued shares of non-public startups, allowing them to remain within retirement contribution limits while also benefiting from lower taxes.

That’s what Baszucki did, reportedly. Baszucki is the brother of the founder and CEO of the online-gaming company Roblox and is a longtime board member for the company. He reportedly accumulated about two million Roblox shares in his Roth IRA before the company went public. He sold about a third of his stake after its debut when share prices had gone up. By selling stocks from inside his retirement account, he was able to avoid a federal capital-gains tax of as much as 20% of his profit.

The Joint Committee on Taxation reports that tax breaks for IRAs and 401(k)-style retirement accounts in 2025 added up to about $249.6 billion in revenue the federal government didn’t collect.

Concern over the “loophole”

The savings strategy first drew attention when former Republican Senator Mitt Romney disclosed during his 2012 presidential campaign that his IRA has as much as $101 million in assets. It came back into public discourse when ProPublica revealed Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, grew a $2,000 IRA investment into $5 billion in 20 years.

Two Democrats are now taking action against the strategy. Senator Ron Wyden and Representative RIchard Neal introduced a bill on July 22 that would require annual withdrawals from accounts over $10 million. The pair say the legislation would prevent high earners from using retirement accounts to avoid taxes.

“This is an egregious loophole we’ve got to close,” Wyden said, according to the Wall Street Journal. “Congress created tax-advantaged retirement accounts to help more Americans save for a dignified retirement, not to help the ultrawealthy dodge taxes on insider deals and build titanic fortunes.”