They pay the capital gain at some point, but the most wealthy tend to never sell. They tend to take loans against their assets and hold in perpetuity. I agree

They pay the capital gain at some point, but the most wealthy tend to never sell. They tend to take loans against their assets and hold in perpetuity. I agree that raising the value of the share leads to a deferred taxable event, just a question of whether that deferral is permanent or not. Presumably it would be realized at some point. There is also a compounding effect to deferring gains, which leads to higher wealth concentration. e.g. you make gains on the portion of your investment that would be taxed, because dont owe the tax until you sell.