The richest four hundred billionaires own just over 4% of U.S. wealth. But the top 1% own just under one-third of the country’s wealth. To the extent that we’re concerned about inequality, we can’t ignore this lower-profile — but still very rich — group, which is mostly made up of what economics professors Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick call “everywhere millionaires.”
Zidar and Zwick have a new book out discussing who these millionaires are and how they made their money: Mostly they are over 60 and founded or own businesses unconnected to the tech and finance industries that dominate the discourse about American wealth. Think owners of beverage distributors, HVAC companies, and car dealerships.
The book contains some truly inspiring stories about entrepreneurs who discovered an untapped market segment or founded an innovative company and worked their way up. It also includes stories about how the everywhere millionaires have pushed for tax and regulatory policies that raise their own profits by erecting barriers to entry or weakening workers’ ability to bargain for higher wages.
Check out the full video above for my Substack live interview with Zidar. We discussed who these millionaires are, whether private equity is good or bad, and what exactly an “S-corp” is.
