The Brazilian João Paulo Pacífico, CEO of impact investments at Grupo Gaia; Valerie Rockefeller, heiress to the North American oil dynasty; actor Brian Cox; and Abigail Disney, heiress to the Disney group, have two things in common: the many digits in their bank account and the desire to pay more tax.
With the aim of reducing extreme inequality, together with 250 millionaires and billionaires from 17 countries they signed an open letter, sent to government officials and executives present at the World Economic Forum, held in Davos, Switzerland, between January 15th and 19th.
Throughout the letter, the super-rich make a simple request: to pay more taxes. According to them, higher taxes would not affect their fortunes and would be a way of impacting the common democratic future, with more education, health and infrastructure for everyone.
João Paulo Pacífico is the only Brazilian to be part of the Proud to Pay More movement. Pacífico is an entrepreneur from Grupo Gaia, whose first company was founded in 2009. Today, he generates more than 20 billion reais in operations and runs Gaia+, an NGO that promotes the teaching of socio-emotional skills to vulnerable children and government school teachers.
In a video published on Instagram after signing the letter, he defends taxation of the richest and proposes the implementation of a universal basic income. “Everyone has the right to have a decent income. Do you think it’s fair that 129 million Brazilians have become poorer since 2020, while four of the five richest billionaires in Brazil increased their income by 51%?”, he asks.
In 2023, a letter like this was delivered during the World Economic Forum. The lack of response was questioned at the beginning of the new letter. “We are surprised that you failed to answer a simple question we have been asking for three years: when are you going to tax extreme wealth? If the elected representatives in the world’s major economies do not take action to address the dramatic increase in economic inequality, the consequences will continue to be catastrophic for society,” they said.
Sources: Estadão, Grupo Gaia and Proud to Pay More.
