United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby has a message for America: The wealthy need to surrender a much larger share of their fortunes to the government.
But Kirby’s call for aggressive taxation is raising an obvious question. Why is an executive earning tens of millions of dollars annually demanding that Washington take a bigger cut from the nation’s wealthiest citizens while remaining silent about what he is willing to sacrifice himself?
Kirby, who leads one of America’s largest airlines, recently used an interview with The New York Times to warn that growing wealth inequality threatens the country. He also endorsed a national wealth tax and suggested that inheritance taxes should eventually approach confiscatory levels.
His comments have drawn scrutiny because of his own compensation and the pricing policies at the airline he oversees. And when Fox Business asked United to explain the apparent contradiction, the company declined to answer either of the network’s questions.
