United Airlines CEO—who made $32 million last year—calls for a national wealth tax and a nearly 100% inheritance tax: ‘I would pay them’

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby earned $32.3 million last year, roughly 334 times the compensation of his company’s median employee.

Now he says America’s wealthiest people should pay more in taxes, including an inheritance tax that could approach 100%.

That puts Kirby alongside other wealthy business leaders, including Bill Gates and Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff , who have publicly supported raising taxes on the rich.

“Wealth inequality has become a danger to our society, and we need to address that,” Kirby said in an interview with The New York Times published Sunday.

He continued: “We should have a national wealth tax — it won’t work by state because people will just move.

And I think we should have inheritance taxes that get close to 100 percent at some level.

I would pay them.” The comments came in response to a question about declining public trust in CEOs.

Kirby’s own pay offers a striking illustration of the economic divide he described.

What Kirby made last year Kirby’s total 2025 compensation, according to United’s proxy statement, was $32.28 million and included $1.2 million in base salary, $22.6 million in stock awards, $8 million in non-equity incentive compensation, and roughly $500,000 in other compensation.

United’s median employee, meanwhile, received $96,670 in total compensation, according to the same filing.

The gap mirrors a broader trend: CEO pay rose 11% in 2025 while worker pay rose just 0.5% , according to a study by the International Trade Union Confederation and Oxfam.

In the Dallas area, where Kirby lives , even though United is headquartered in Chicago, United advertised a part-time airport customer service representative position with a starting wage of $19.64 an hour.

The job includes assisting passengers at boarding gates.

Even working 40 hours a week at that rate, it would take roughly 790 years to match Kirby’s 2025 compensation, assuming no raises, bonuses, or overtime.