In 2024, the concentration of wealth increased to an all-time high. According to Forbes Billionaires Listnot only are there more billionaires than ever—2,781—but those billionaires are also wealthier than ever, with a total worth of $14.2 trillion. This is a trend that looks set to continue unabated. A recent report from financial data company Altrata estimates that about 1.2 million individuals worth more than $5 million will pass on a collective fortune of nearly $31 trillion over the next decade.

Dissatisfaction and concern with the consequences of excessive wealth in our society is growing. Senator Bernie Sanders, for example, stated that the “America’s obscene levels of income and wealth inequality are a deep moral issue.” In a joint op-ed for CNN in 2023, Democratic congresswoman Barbara Lee and Disney heiress Abigail Disney wrote that “extreme wealth inequality is a threat to our economy and democracy.” In 2024, when Tesla’s board put to vote a $56 billion pay package for Elon Musk, some major shareholders voted against it, stating that such a level of compensation “makes no sense” and “Funny.”

By 2025, the fight against rising wealth inequality will be high on the political agenda. In July 2024, the G20—the world’s 20 largest economies—agreed to work on a proposal by Brazil to introduce a new global “billionaire tax” which would impose a 2 percent tax on assets worth more than $1 billion. This would raise an estimated $250 billion a year. While this specific proposal was not endorsed by the Rio declaration, the G20 countries AGREES that the super rich should be taxed more.

Progressive politicians are not the only ones trying to solve this problem. In 2025, millionaires themselves will increasingly mobilize and put pressure on political leaders. One such event is Patriotic Millionairesa nonpartisan group of multimillionaires who have campaigned publicly and privately lobbied the US Congress for a guaranteed living wage for all, a fair tax system, and the protection of equal representation . “Millionaires and big corporations—who benefit greatly from our country’s assets—should pay a larger percentage of the tab for running the country.,” reads their value statement. Members include Abigail Disney, former BlackRock executive Morris Pearl, legal scholar Lawrence Lessig, screenwriter Norman Lear, and investor Lawrence Benenson.

Another example is TaxMeNowa lobby group founded in 2021 by young multimillionaires in Germany, Austria, and Switzerland that also advocates higher wealth taxes. Its most famous member is 32-year-old Marlene Engelhorn, a descendant of Friedrich Engelhorn, founder of the German pharma giant BASF. He recently set up a council of 50 randomly selected Austrian citizens to decide what happens to his €25 million inheritance. “I inherited a fortune, and therefore power, without doing anything for it,” he said in a statement. “If the politicians don’t do their job and redistribute, I have to redistribute my wealth myself.”

Earlier this year, Patriotic Millionaires, TaxMeNow, Oxfam, and other activist groups called out Millionaires For The People founded a coalition called Proud to Pay More, and spoke in a letter of world leaders during the annual gathering of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Signed by hundreds of high-net-worth individuals—including heiress Valerie Rockefeller, actor Simon Pegg, and filmmaker Richard Curtis—the letter said: “We all know that the ‘ trickle down economics’ did not translate into reality. Instead it gives us stagnant wages, crumbling infrastructure, failed public services, and undermines the very institution of democracy. It concluded: “We ask you to take this necessary and inevitable step before it is too late. Make your countries proud. Tax extreme wealth.” In 2025, thanks to a new movement of millionaire activists, these calls will be even louder.