United CEO backs wealth tax and near 100% inheritance tax

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby said he supports a national wealth tax and inheritance taxes that could approach 100% at some level, adding that he would pay them. He linked the proposals to wealth inequality, which he described as a danger to society, in an interview published October 18. Kirby said a wealth tax imposed by an individual state would not work because people could move. He did not set a rate or threshold for a national tax, specify which inheritances might face a rate near 100%, or say how such a levy would relate to the existing federal estate tax. United Airlines Holdings’ 2026 proxy statement reports Kirby’s total compensation for 2025 as $32,282,253, compared with $96,670 for the company’s median employee, a ratio of about 334 to 1. The compensation figure includes stock awards valued at about $22.6 million under executive-pay disclosure rules; it does not represent the amount Kirby necessarily received in cash. The company has noted that permitted methods for calculating pay ratios can differ among employers. The federal estate tax provides a point of comparison, though Kirby did not explain whether his proposal would change it or create a separate tax. For...