I think the numbers are intentionally deceptive. Billionaires aren't generally billionaires because of their salaried jobs. There are trusts and corporations an

I think the numbers are intentionally deceptive. Billionaires aren't generally billionaires because of their salaried jobs. There are trusts and corporations and all manner of entities that "absorb" the majority of their income. Like Peter Thiel's tax-free $5B Roth IRA account. If every person in Houston deposited the maximum they were allowed into their account, it wouldn't equal what self-dealing and obfuscation allowed Thiel to deposit (how many people have share portfolios that they control AND control the valuation thereof). The Tax Foundation knows that the 1% doesn't have all their income captured under "Elon Musk, SSN XYZ" when he files his tax return. But they still like to paint it as such, because it advances their talking points. Like a sibling said, when you look at the wealth controlled and earned, pointing to just the total paid is garbage, because there's no proportion. "Oh, they paid 1.5 times more than [demographic]" means very little when they control 70x the wealth of that other demographic. Source: https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tech-mogul-peter-thiel-turned-a-retirement-account-for-the-middle-class-into-a-5-billion-dollar-tax-free-piggy-bank https://www.propublica.org/article/lord-of-the-roths-how-tec...