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By Alia Shoaib
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American venture capitalist Bradley Tusk has warned that growing inequality in the United States could lead to a revolution.
“Right now, if we don’t do anything, it seems to me you could have a world with Elon [Musk] and 25 other trillionaires and 19 percent unemployment. And to me, that just means the French Revolution is coming,” Tusk told British radio station LBC on Thursday.
Why It Matters
Tusk warned about growing public frustration over the deepening divide in the United States, as billionaire fortunes soar while many Americans struggle with rising living costs.
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What To Know
Tusk, the CEO of venture capital fund Tusk Ventures, warned that vast inequality in the country could lead to an uprising similar to the French Revolution, which took place in the 18th century and saw ordinary citizens revolt against the monarchy over inequality and rising living costs.
Tusk referenced Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, whose net worth is estimated to be around $500 billion by Forbes. Tesla shareholders on Thursday approved a $1 trillion pay package for Musk over the next decade, tied to the company's performance.
Musk, currently the world’s richest person, could become the world’s first trillionaire.
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Oxfam’s annual inequality report, released in January, predicted that within the next decade, five billionaires could be on track to reach trillionaire status.
Tusk, who reportedly earned about $100 million in Uber equity for his work as a political strategist during the company’s early expansion, told LBC that he funds campaigns across the country to mandate that children receive free breakfasts and lunches at school.
“If you don't want a society where people are struggling to put food on the table, struggling to make rent, struggling to pay the utilities—and we shouldn't have that here because this is the richest, most abundant country in the history of the world—then we should be in a position to make sure that people at least have the basics," he said.
The venture capitalist praised the self-described Zohran Mamdani, the mayor-elect of New York City, who has said that he believes billionaires shouldn’t exist.
Tusk said that while he didn’t agree with all of Mamdani’s ideas, he liked his “positive vision for New York” and said of the Democratic Party: “We could use some youth, some enthusiasm, some new ideas.”
What People Are Saying
Venture capitalist Bradley Tusk told LBC: “If Elon Musk says he needs a trillion dollars because he's going to solve global hunger or something like that, great, have at it. But I don’t know what you could possibly buy with a trillion dollars that you couldn't buy with a hundred billion, or probably even $10 billion.”
New York City Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani told NBC News in June: “I don’t think that we should have billionaires because, frankly, it is so much money in a moment of such inequality, and ultimately, what we need more of is equality across our city and across our state and across our country.”
What Happens Next
Debates over billionaire wealth and economic reform are likely to continue to intensify as inequality deepens and voters demand action on the cost of living.
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