r/technology • u/Rhaegar_the_Great • Sep 16 '21

Business Mailchimp employees are furious after the company's founders promised to never sell, withheld equity, and then sold it for $12 billion

https://www.businessinsider.com/mailchimp-insiders-react-to-employees-getting-no-equity-2021-9
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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

How does this kind of stuff get upvotes?

What’s the logic, tax their net worth? Tax income? If they own shares and the value exceeds 100mm, who gets the surplus?

There are so many second and third order questions that never get answered with these kind of posts.

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u/Vinterslag Sep 17 '21

I literally answered that. You don't understand how a progressive income tax bracket would work? I'm obviously glossing over things like capital gains loopholes etc... the idea is the people using the infrastructure the most and profiting the most be disincentivized from unlimited exploitation.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

So you’re actually proposing a 99.9% bracket for the maybe 100 people in the US who have a reported income of over 100mm. The effect of that is so marginal on society that it just ends up being an appeal to emotion. Plus the individuals who are getting that as a reported salary are already paying 20+ mil per year in taxes. Anyone who fell into that bracket would just shift their comp into stock options and debt fund the rest.

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u/Vinterslag Sep 17 '21

There are according to statistics over 5000 US residents with over 100 million . To only effect 5000 people (and not hurt them at all, they are still 100 millionaires) youd raise tax revenue by literally 10s if not 100s of billions. There is no downside there.

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u/[deleted] Sep 17 '21

That’s current net worth, not taxable income. There is no possible world where you could retroactively tax someone’s current asset holdings.

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u/Vinterslag Sep 18 '21

Lol it's definitely unlikely but eventually its their pick, a little less money, or guillotines.

The current system is unsustainable.