Jeff Yass and the Illusion of Equality: A Billionaire's Perspective

The new Bloomberg Businessweek, appearing for the first time as a monthly issue, offers a fascinating portrait of the libertarian billionaire Jeff Yass. Yass, co-founder of the gigantic trading firm Susquehanna International Group, once boldly stated: "What is the difference between a billionaire and someone who makes $100,000 a year? Both sit at home and watch Netflix. And both use their iPhone." In some ways, Yass is right, yet in many other areas, he is significantly off the mark. In defense of Yass, it can be said that his life is probably not all that different from the millionaires and thousandaires around him. Get up, go to work, watch Netflix, go to bed. The best things in life are free: the sun in the morning, the moon at night, occasionally an eclipse. Or almost free: Even Donald Trump enjoys McDonald's, just like people with a billionth of his wealth. However, Yass's message—that inequality is largely a solved problem—is absurd. The Bloomberg Businessweek report quotes a 2022 interview with the Adam Smith Society, in which Yass also stated: “In America, not globally, but we are getting there," Yass said, "everyone now has everything they need. No one is hungry, no one is cold, no one lacks basic, uh, health insurance, so the rising tide has eliminated real inequality." Let's start with "No one is hungry." According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, in 2022, nearly seven million American households experienced “very low food security,” meaning that "the normal eating patterns of one or more household members were disrupted, and food intake was reduced at times because they did not have enough money or other resources for food." There is no need to even speak further of "No one is cold" (what about the homeless?) or "No one lacks health insurance." Another of Yass's errors is that he simply cannot conceive that someone makes less than $100,000 a year (an amount significantly higher than the median income). Undoubtedly, billionaires have their own special concerns. Yass, for example, fights against the federal government banning TikTok, as he is a significant investor in its parent company ByteDance. However, these issues pale in comparison to the daily struggles of average Americans to make ends meet each month. No, Jeff, it is not true that “everyone has everything they need.”