By Jean-Paul Fonteijn, who is the author of Bring Down The Billionaires! and founder of the SuperRichTax.com, a movement which has already gained over 32,0000 signatures across more than 150 countries.
If you ask the average person on the street to name a tech entrepreneur, chances are they will go to one of the ‘Big Tech’ founders. Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg… these leaders have become the poster boys of the wider technology industry, and as well as building hugely successful businesses, have amassed personal fortunes that put them amongst the world’s wealthiest people.
So of course it makes sense for aspiring entrepreneurs and technology companies to want to follow in the footsteps of these billionaires.
But perhaps it is time for us to reconsider what success really looks like? Perhaps the story we have been told for generations isn’t really working?
SuperRichTax, what is next?
Time for a new story?
If you turn on the TV to watch the news, browse social media or pick up a newspaper, there is a common theme that echoes across them all – our future is under threat. Climate change is accelerating, relationships between democratic institutions around the world are strained, and inequality simply appears to widen no matter how often we hear politicians promise to redress the balance. There are clearly a multitude of complex factors that contribute to these dynamics around the world, and while I wouldn’t suggest that the heroes of modern entrepreneurship are at fault for the situation, there is an argument that we should question whether they are symbols of a system that no longer works.
One concept that keeps reappearing in political debates is the idea of trickle-down economics. According to its logic, wealth accumulated at the very top would eventually flow down to the rest of society. For decades this idea has shaped economic policy, investment strategies, and even the dreams of thousands of young tech founders. Many of us believe that becoming extremely rich was not just a personal ambition but somehow a public good.
But many economists over several decades have questioned the assumptions of trickle-down theory. While the idea promises that benefits will eventually reach everyone, there is lots of real-world evidence that tells a different story: wealth accumulates faster at the top. The gap between rich and poor continues to widen, and it has accelerated since the financial crisis.
We know that inequality casts a shadow over society, and it impacts everything from enterprise to education. Yet despite this, the trickle-down economic model has persisted unchallenged, un-updated, and just deeply embedded in our thinking.
Could tech help turn the tide?
Interestingly, from talking to a number of entrepreneurs, investors and leaders – particularly in tech industries – it seems many people share the same worries. There is a growing recognition that society feels increasingly unbalanced, and despite lots of talk, the systems and structures that exist rarely help those who needed it most. Tech entrepreneurs are at the forefront of innovation, making positive changes and the industry seems to be thriving, yet somehow the opportunities in society seem to keep shrinking for many people.
So whose fault is it? Should we villainize the richest individuals and self-made billionaires? Of course not, but we should at least examine the systems that allow such extreme concentrations of wealth, and see if there could be a framework that aims to restore balance by ensuring that economic gains are shared more broadly, rather than remaining locked at the top.
While changing the mindsets of world leaders and systems that global economies are built upon is like attempting to turn a super-yacht in a tight harbour, technology companies and their leaders can be much more agile.
Instead of designing companies to chase enormous valuations, they could reimagine their goals. What if tech innovation could strengthen communities rather than bypass them? What if entrepreneurship didn’t require aspiring to billionaire status, but instead worked towards building systems that lifted the many rather than the few? And what if customers celebrated these tech entrepreneurs and their sustainable growth to create ripple effect and shift in mindset across wider society.
So, should tech entrepreneurs really aspire to be the next Musk, Bezos, or Zuckerberg? Maybe the better question is what kind of future we want to build—and who benefits from it? Wealth alone has never saved a society. But shared opportunity might, and you could play a meaningful role in that change as a founder who dared to imagine a different kind of success.
Jean-Paul Fonteijn is the author of Bring Down The Billionaires! and founder of the SuperRichTax.com, a movement which has already gained over 32,0000 signatures across more than 150 countries.
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