Billionaires with $1 salaries
– and other legal tax dodges the ultrawealthy use to keep their riches
Billionaires can enjoy growing wealth entirely free of income tax and reporting
Mark Zuckerberg was the lowest-paid employee at Meta in 2024,
and he made US$1.
But he is not the only very rich person who has collected $1 for a year’s work.
Why would incredibly rich CEOs make only $1 a year when they could pay themselves millions?
The reason is taxes.
Income from work is the most heavily taxed type of income,
as it is subject to both income and payroll taxes.
A self-employed person who makes a modest income of $60,000 will pay over $13,000 of it in payroll and income taxes.
Meanwhile, high-income earners who earn a $400,000 salary can pay about 30% of their income in payroll and income taxes.
So the first step in avoiding taxes is avoiding salary,
and that is what our richest Americans often do.
