United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby doubles down on wealth tax support as a 'matter of fairness'

United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby on Wednesday reiterated his support for a wealth tax as a matter of fairness amid criticism over his comments given his compensation.

Kirby said in an interview with CNBC's "Squawk Box" that his prior comments in favor of a wealth tax were in response to a New York Times question about a non-consensus view that he holds, adding that "I'm not a politician, I'm not ever going to be in politics, nor am I a policy advocate for this or other programs."

"I think a wealth tax in particular is a more fair – is just about fairness. Today, you probably pay 40% income taxes on your income. But if you're wealthy enough, you could put money aside – and by the way, I think it would apply to me – put money aside and let it grow forever, never realize income on it," he said. "You can let it grow forever and it never gets taxed. You get stepped-up cost basis at the end, and it never gets taxed."

"That doesn't feel fair to me," Kirby said, adding that those are his views: "If it was up to me, it's not up to me, so no one should be mad about one person's view. But if it was, I would have a system where we have lower income taxes and higher taxes on – some kind of taxes on the gain in wealth. At some point, I think those ought to be taxed."

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"It's just a matter of fairness. Hard-working Americans pay 40% of their money in income [taxes]. I think as a matter of fairness, passive wealth growth ought to be taxed somehow. And it's just one guy's view, but that's what I think," Kirby said.

The United Airlines CEO told The New York Times in a recent interview that wealth inequality poses a "danger" to American society and said that he would support a national wealth tax as well as "inheritance taxes that get close to 100% at some level."

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Kirby's comments about wealth taxes and inequality have drawn attention to his compensation at United Airlines. He received about $32.3 million in total compensation, including salary, stock awards and performance incentives during the airline's fiscal year 2025.

United didn't respond to a previous inquiry from FOX Business about Kirby's compensation, which included a question about whether he is planning to reduce his compensation to share more of his wealth with his employees.

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During the CNBC interview, Kirby was asked about criticisms of how a wealth tax can punish entrepreneurs and if there are other ways to address his concerns about the stepped-up basis rather than trying to tax unrealized capital gains.

"This was one comment in a long-ranging interview. I'm not trying to define what the tax would look like or what it should be," he said. "There's a lot of different ways to skin that cat."

"Passive wealth growth, you can just invest – that's not an entrepreneur – you can just invest, put the money aside, it can grow tax-free until your death, then you get stepped-up cost basis. Literally, wealth growth never pays taxes, and that's the point to me that feels unfair," Kirby said. "I'm not a policy advocate, I'm not arguing for it."

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