December 25, 2023
Gemma McGough became a millionaire after selling her technology business. She thinks it's unfair that she doesn't have to give up more of her wealth—she's now fighting other rich people for higher taxes.
When Gemma McGough sold her technology start-up a few years ago, she suddenly became a multimillionaire. But the sudden wealth did not make the British woman happy. “I never imagined I would have so much money. “It was uncomfortable,” recalls the 43-year-old businessman.
Together with her husband Chris, she founded the certification agency Product Compliance Specialists in Buckinghamshire, UK, and grew it into a profitable company. When tech companies bring new products to market, they get support from McGough's company: its experts can ensure devices meet their national regulatory requirements – a lucrative niche market in which the British company also complies with its current company. , Eleos, a leading supplier .
But McGough's mission isn't just business success. She also wants to give something back to society, specifically a generous portion of her wealth. McGough is one of a growing number of wealthy people who are practically begging the government to tax them more. In the US and the UK, an organization has even been formed that is dedicated exclusively to lobbying for a tax on the rich: the Patriotic Millionaires.
The movement originated in America, where today it has hundreds of members. Among them is Abigail Disney, heiress to the entertainment dynasty of the same name, who describes herself as “too rich.” The 62-year-old granddaughter of Roy Disney, who founded the Walt Disney Company with his brother Walt in 1923, has a net worth of about $120 million. Her bank balance made her unhappy, she once said. Disney therefore began donating and donating money to charities. They were noble and generous gestures, but they failed to bring about social change – which is why Disney is now trying to convince governments to raise more money from “all the absurdly rich people in the world”.
McGough is a spokesperson the British branch of the Patriotic Millionaires. The organization has been making headlines in the Anglosphere for some time, but its mission to take from the rich and give to the poor is not only generating interest in Robin Hood's homeland: in German-speaking Europe, Viennese Marlene Engelhorn is a descendant of the founder of BASF, Friedrich Engelhorn, founded a similar initiative. She will soon inherit a sum of millions – and she wants to be taxed for it. It cannot be the case, she argues, that her inheritance is tax-free and that the working population bears the majority of the tax burden. Her Taxmenow initiative publicly advocates for tax justice and a fair distribution of wealth.
Danish Djaffar Shalchi, who became a multimillionaire through real estate, also calls for a tax on the rich for people like him. He also sees “excess wealth” as a problem for democracy: the system is too focused on the needs and interests of the rich. In an interview, the businessman with Iranian roots said: “We have to return to a fair system, a democratic system in which everyone pays their fair share.”
McGough, who lives near London with her three children, hopes for greater international cooperation on taxation. “There needs to be a cross-country initiative to impose more burdens on people like me who can afford to pay more,” she said. In Britain in particular, many super-rich people use complex offshore constructions to protect their assets from tax authorities. In addition to tax justice, McGough also calls for a “robust prosecution” of tax avoidance and evasion.
She is still conflicted about her wealth. “It seems I overcompensated. Being rich suddenly makes you different from other people, and I wonder: should I have so much more?” After selling her first business, she started a charity. Charity work is “lovely,” but philanthropy it doesn't solve the big problems of our time, says McGough. And this also includes the widening gap between rich and poor, said the Brit.
Last June 500 millionaires from around the world gathered in a ballroom at the Savoy Hotel in London for a conference. The patriotic millionaires took advantage of the meeting to promote their cause. Advisers to the ultra-rich warned at the event that there was a “real risk of insurgencies” and “civil unrest” if the unequal distribution of wealth continued to increase – especially at a time when many families around the world suffer from high levels of poverty. . energy and living costs.
It is mainly women who fight on the front lines for the mission of the Patriotic Millionaires; among them McGough's colleague Julia Davies, who also warned at the Savoy Hotel about the consequences of the climate emergency, a crisis that is worsening global poverty and wealth inequality. “Anyone can escape responsibility,” Davies explained, “but it’s the richest in society who can really do something about it.” The richest people in the world could be “the heroes” in today’s enormous crises.
That's why the patriotic millionaires, along with nearly 300 other super-rich economists and politicians, called for a global tax on the rich in an open letter to G20 heads of state. Current inequality has reached a “dangerous level” and is threatening political stability in countries around the world.
The role and responsibility of rich people in a society are constantly debated. They are often seen as scapegoats or profiteers of the crisis, and now also as saviors or possible heroes. Many wealthy entrepreneurs contribute to a better, fairer society through their actions – creating jobs, making their companies sustainable and environmentally friendly, or ensuring diversity and inclusion among employees. But McGough doesn't go far enough.
There is abundant evidence that governments do not always use taxpayers' money wisely and proactively, but often waste that capital negligently, short-sightedly or ineffectively. McGough believes, however, that social change can only be achieved with the State and its democratically elected representatives. Their proposals don't seem very radical: capital gains taxes should be brought into line with income taxes, which they say would bring in £14 billion in additional tax revenue a year – more than the increase proposed by the British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on social security contributions. , which (once again) particularly affects average wage earners who are already the most taxed.
McGough says many wealthy people are interested in his organization and want to make a contribution, including in German-speaking countries; However, the mission of patriotic millionaires is difficult. This is also evident in McGough's homeland: the next government will most likely be the left-wing Labor Party. But even they long ago buried their plans for a (high) wealth tax.
Gemma McGough, 43, became a multimillionaire through her start-ups and investments in technology companies. She never studied and started working on her own from an early age to be “master of her own destiny” as an entrepreneur. She is the co-founder of Patriotic Millionaires UK. patrioticmillionaires.uk