does no one understand how taxes work? these billionaires didn't pay taxes because they haven't realized most of this income yet (they haven't sold their stocks). Small investors don't pay taxes either until they sell their stocks and that makes sense. imagine if you bought GameStop early and were holding 20 million in stock worth in January 2021 but had to pay five million in taxes money you didn't actually have. or what if you borrowed five million to pay those taxes but you didn't exit until you actually lost money?
I'm not wealthy and until recently I never even had savings but this system of paying taxes when you cash out makes sense to me. propublica did a weird thing by comparing these billionaires net worth to their annual income taxes paid.