/Tech3h ago

Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner argues taxing early capital gains would stifle innovation, claiming it would have blocked SpaceX

Story Overview

Altimeter Capital founder Brad Gerstner jumped into a debate over Rep. Ro Khanna's tax ideas by floating a hypothetical where a 100% levy on Elon Musk's early PayPal gains would have stopped Tesla and SpaceX before they started, framing high taxes on founder liquidity as a direct threat to big innovation bets.

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Original post

Brad Gerstner@altcap#601inTech

You are smarter than this Ro. Imagine if Bernie had taxed @elonmusk 100% on his PayPal capital gains. We would have no @Tesla & no @SpaceX - none of those jobs or GDP. Who do you think allocated the capital better for society? He will already pay $100 B + in taxes - more than any human ever. I hope he donates some to kids via @TrumpAccounts to make every kid a shareholder in 🇺🇸 & continues investing all his heart, soul & money for the benefit of America & all humanity! 🇺🇸🚀🤍

Ro Khanna@RoKhanna

Musk is worth more than South Africa’s GDP. @BernieSanders and I proposed a 5% tax on people like him.

In one year, it could fund: - free public college & trade school -$10/day childcare - Special-needs education nationwide

Wealth inequality is the moral failure of our time.

12:17 PM · Jun 12, 2026 · 6.6K Views

Policy Risk

The actual mechanics behind the wealth-tax pitch

Sanders and Khanna's bill would hit net worth above $1 billion with a recurring 5% annual charge, aiming to pull in trillions for direct payments and expanded social programs, yet the proposal's handling of illiquid assets and long-term behavioral effects stays unresolved.

Open Question

Why VCs keep raising the innovation-stifling alarm

Gerstner and peers like Shaun Maguire argue that punishing early exits would dry up the capital that funded Musk's later wins, but whether the wealth-tax design would actually change founder decisions or company formation remains an open question with no settled evidence yet.

Sentiment

Positive users agreed with Brad Gerstner's argument that a wealth tax on Musk would have killed Tesla and SpaceX, while negative users responded with insults and accusations of communist or cynical motives.

Pos

29.1%

Neg

70.9%

92 comments with sentiment.

Cluster Engagement

Posts from X

Most Activity

VIEWS1.1MBOOKMARKS280LIKES5.8KRETWEETS462REPLIES515

Brad Gerstner@altcap

You are smarter than this Ro. Imagine if Bernie had taxed @elonmusk 100% on his PayPal capital gains. We would have no @Tesla or @SpaceX - none of those jobs or GDP. Who do you think allocated the capital better for society? He will already pay $100 B + in taxes - more than any human ever. I hope he donates some to kids via @TrumpAccounts to make every kid a shareholder in 🇺🇸 & continues investing all his heart, soul & money for the benefit of America & all humanity! 🇺🇸🚀🤍

Ro Khanna@RoKhanna

Musk is worth more than South Africa’s GDP. @BernieSanders and I proposed a 5% tax on people like him.

In one year, it could fund: - free public college & trade school -$10/day childcare - Special-needs education nationwide

Wealth inequality is the moral failure of our time.

3h1.1M5.8K280

Mike Solana@micsolana

men look at the accomplishments of great men in awe. they feel proud, inspired, and want to be great as well. parasites rub their greedy little insect hands together and say "that's mine." ro khanna is a parasite.

Ro Khanna@RoKhanna

Brad, a 5% tax on Elon's trillion net worth would literally pay for free college and trade school for every American.

And with the market's growth, he still would be worth over a trillion dollars!

You don't think that's worth it?

1h52.9K2.2K63

Shaun Maguire@shaunmmaguire

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX 🎯

Brad Gerstner@altcap

3h7.8K4273

Austen Allred@Austen

“If you enact an economy-destroying wealth tax on the world’s richest man you could increase the amount spent on student aid by 18% for one year!”

Morons.

Ro Khanna@RoKhanna

Brad, a 5% tax on Elon's trillion net worth would literally pay for free college and trade school for every American.

And with the market's growth, he still would be worth over a trillion dollars!

You don't think that's worth it?

1h7.7K1972

Blake Scholl 🛫@bscholl

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX Ro *is* smarter than this. So what explains his behavior?

Brad Gerstner@altcap

1h2K681

Martin Shkreli@MartinShkreli

@micsolana his conviction comes from some random focus groups with poor methodology

Mike Solana@micsolana

54m3.1K631

Austen Allred@Austen

Even the math doesn’t work.

Students _currently_ borrow $100 Billion/year to attend college.

This wouldn’t even cover that.

He’s either a moron or playing one or (most likely) both.

53m1K15

Kelly Holmes@kell71191

@altcap= You're Wrong 🤥🤥🙄🙄

Elon didn’t build this alone he got $38 billion in government contracts, loans & subsidies from Obama-Biden era when Tesla/SpaceX were dying, then played every admin since. 🤡

We should tax him at 45%, he used taxpayers' money and kissed up to every admin in the presidency for his own advantage.😏

2h1075

David Parker@david_parker

@micsolana Our world is crawling in parasites.

49m824

onlyhereforTCUS_@OnlyhereforTcus

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX He is actually the epitome of white privilege. He gets to incite violence with no repercussion around the world. He gets to splinter entire countries, no consequence. He gets to lie about what his companies are going to do. Still waiting on the 2017 roadster.

2h7

Kirt Cobain@futuretelephone

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX The scary part is he knows this.

2h763

Brad Gerstner@altcap

@geoffwolfe @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX There is a marginal cost to everything. I made it 100% to prove a point. There is no tax too high for @BernieSanders & every punitive tax is a penalty on innovators - the source of human progress. Bernie - have u ever focused on the ROI on what we already spend?!

3h542

𝐏𝐚𝐮𝐥𝐨𝐬 (Golden Age Arc)@myth_pilot

@micsolana @PewyF Envy is anti civilization.

57m415

Gregory Wilken@GregoryWilken

@k_mcGahey @altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX He took every penny and put into Tesla and SpaceX that he made from PayPal. Thats the point look what has come from it. If he been taxed and extra 5% he would have not made it. Also they want it every year. The money will move offshore.

3h41

Geosci_Nerd@geosci_nerd

@JTStandard @altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX His two largest companies are amazing. Their PE ratios really does reflect the actual value they bring.

I love trillionaires who get to piggy back on index funds.

Yay to the oligarchy.

2h26

bravoqueen29@megananne1970

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX Ro Khanna is a 🤡

11m52

Grok@grok

US billionaires' combined net worth is ~$8T (2025-26 est.). A 5% wealth tax would raise ~$400B/year.

That's ~7.5% of total federal revenue (~$5.3T in FY2025).

Bottom 50% of earners (mostly <$55k) pay ~3% of federal *income* taxes (~$80B). Households under $75k pay far less in income tax—many owe $0.

$400B would easily cover eliminating federal income taxes for people under $75k (with surplus). Payroll taxes are separate.

Wealth taxes face major implementation hurdles (valuation, liquidity, avoidance, growth effects). Top earners already pay ~40%+ of income taxes.

1h9

CloudDesks@CloudDesks

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX Sorry Brad, but we’re talking about “shit for brains“ with this one.

Here’s hoping for your hope for Elon and the TrumpAccounts! Well done sir!!!

2h3081

PeterGozinya@PeterGozinya01

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX Absolutely right, but doesn’t surprise me this Democrat @RoKhanna wants to tax the rich, to lesson innovation, reduce growth of the middle class and reduce government income in the long term otherwise he would support trillionaires like @elonmusk

2h71

Triple H's nose@Trumpsredhat

@altcap @elonmusk @Tesla @SpaceX He could do so much with his wealth. Instead he hoards it and uses it to buy elections. He is dangerous. Way more so than left or right wing "extremism" These people want influence and power. They want to be godlike. Tax the shit out of these people before they kill us all

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