Business 4 min read By Arthur Ellington
United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby backs national wealth tax and near-100% inheritance tax
Scott Kirby, who earned $32.3m last year, says wealth inequality is a danger to society and that he would pay higher taxes himself.
United Airlines chief executive Scott Kirby has called for a national wealth tax and inheritance taxes approaching 100%, arguing that widening wealth inequality has become a danger to society. His intervention places him among a small group of wealthy business leaders, including Bill Gates and Salesforce chief executive Marc Benioff, who have publicly backed higher taxes on the rich.
In an interview with the New York Times, Kirby said: «Wealth inequality has become a danger to our society, and we need to address that.» He added: «We should have a national wealth tax — it won’t work by state because people will just move. And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level. I would pay them.» The remarks came in response to a question about declining public trust in chief executives.
Kirby’s own pay illustrates the divide he described. United’s proxy statement shows his total compensation for 2025 was $32.28m, made up of a $1.2m base salary, $22.6m in stock awards, $8m in non-equity incentive compensation and about $500,000 in other compensation. The airline’s median employee received $96,670, meaning Kirby earned roughly 334 times the median.
The gap reflects a broader trend. Chief executive pay rose 11% in 2025 while worker pay rose just 0.5%, according to a study by the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam. In the Dallas area, where Kirby lives, United advertised a part-time airport customer service representative role at a starting wage of $19.64 an hour. Even at 40 hours a week, it would take roughly 790 years at that rate to match Kirby’s 2025 compensation, assuming no raises, bonuses or overtime.
Federal Reserve data shows the richest 1% of American households held 32.5% of the nation’s total net worth in the second quarter of 2026, up from 31.1% a year earlier. The bottom half of households held just 2.3%, down from 2.4%.
Other senior executives have acknowledged public anger. JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon said in July that he understood anti-rich sentiment in some communities, and a survey earlier this year found that one in five Americans considers it morally wrong to be a billionaire. Kirby did not specify the threshold at which a national wealth tax would apply or the level at which inheritance would face a rate approaching 100%.
The United States has no federal inheritance tax, although a handful of states levy one. The federal estate tax, paid by the estate rather than by heirs, carries a top marginal rate of 40%, with a $15m basic exclusion amount for people who die in 2026, according to the Internal Revenue Service.
Not everyone welcomed Kirby’s remarks. Louisiana governor Jeff Landry wrote on X that if Kirby felt so strongly, «he could simply cut a check», linking to the Treasury’s fund for public donations to pay down the national debt.
Kirby, a longtime airline executive, joined United as president in 2016 and became chief executive in 2020. He has recently made headlines for other reasons, including reported interest in acquiring American Airlines. United did not respond to questions about whether Kirby believes the gap between executive and employee pay contributes to the inequality he described, or what tax thresholds and rates he would support.
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