Bill Gates: ‘Put up or shut up’ about higher taxes, Grover Norquist says

Microsoft founder and billionaire Bill Gates has joined a number of fellow millionaires in calling for a tax hike on the ultra wealthy after President Trump signed into law a tax overhaul that primarily slashed taxes for corporations.

"I've paid more taxes, over $10 billion, than anyone else, but the government should require the people in my position to pay significantly higher taxes," Gates said Sunday during an interview on CNN.

But Grover Norquist, the president of Americans for Tax Reform, has a message for Gates: Write a check to the government, or stop asking for higher taxes.

“I challenge you to put up or shut up,” he said during an interview with FOX Business’ Ashley Webster on Tuesday. “If you think you should pay more taxes, write a check. Two billion dollars is a good opening bit.”

Gates, the second richest person in the world after Amazon’s (NASDAQ:AMZN) Jeff Bezos, has a net worth that totals more than $91 billion. Other notable billionaires who have called for an increase in taxes on the wealthy include billionaire hedge fund manager George Soros, philanthropist Steven Rockefeller Ben & Jerry’s co-founders Ben Cohen and Jerry Greenfield.

“We need to deal with the shift in wealth that’s gone to all of the people at the very top,” Cohen told FOX Business in November. “And it’s the people at the very bottom that are losing out.”