Bernard Arnault, head of luxury articles Lvmh Group, the richest man in France, evaluated a 2% billionaire tax proposal as an attack on the French economy and denounced the formulator of the plan as an extreme leftist ideologue.
The tax, which is aimed at the wealth of over 100 million euros ($ 117 million), has gained political force in France, where Prime Minister Sébastien Leconnu has to face pressure from the socialist party to include it in the 2026 budget or face a vote of trust that could overcome his government.
“This is not a technical or economic debate, but a clearly declared desire to destroy the French economy,” Arnault said at the Sunday Times of the United Kingdom.
He accused the formulator of the plan, the economist Gabriel Zucman, of being “first of all an extreme left-wing activist” who uses “pseudo-academic competence” to promote an ideology that aims to dismantle the liberal economic system, which Arnault described as “the only one who works for the good of all”.
Zucman, professor at École Normale Supérieure to France and at the University of California in Berkeley, rejected the accusations.
“I have never been an activist of any movement or party,” he said to X, adding that his work is based on research, not on ideology.
Recently, Zucman has supported in the appearances of the media that ultra -Ricchi pay less taxes proportionally than many other citizens, a gap that the proposed tax intends to fill.
The tax has a broad public support, with an IFOP survey commissioned by the Socialist Party this month that shows the approval of 86%.
Source: Terra
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