France’s richest man, Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of luxury goods giant LVMH, has sharply criticized a proposed 2% wealth tax on billionaires, calling it a threat to the country’s economy and branding its architect a far-left ideologue.
The proposed tax would apply to wealth above €100 million ($117 million) and has gained momentum as the Socialist Party pressures Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu to include it in the 2026 national budget. Failure to do so could result in a confidence vote that risks toppling the government.
In a rare public statement to The Sunday Times, Arnault argued that the proposal is not about sound economic policy but rather a politically motivated attempt to undermine France’s liberal economic framework.
“This is clearly not a technical or economic debate, but rather a clearly stated desire to destroy the French economy,” Arnault said.
He also targeted the tax’s chief advocate, economist Gabriel Zucman, accusing him of using “pseudo-academic competence” to advance a far-left agenda. Arnault defended the liberal economic model as “the only one that works for the good of all.”
Zucman, a professor at the École Normale Supérieure in Paris and the University of California, Berkeley, rejected Arnault’s claims, insisting his work is rooted in research, not ideology.
“I’ve never been an activist for any movement or party,” Zucman responded on X (formerly Twitter).
Zucman has become a vocal figure in the wealth tax debate, arguing that the ultra-wealthy often pay proportionally less in taxes than average citizens — a gap this proposal aims to close. He was also one of 300 economists who endorsed the Nouveau Front Populaire’s economic platform in last year’s legislative elections.
Despite elite opposition, the proposed billionaire tax has broad public backing. A recent Ifop poll commissioned by the Socialist Party found that 86% of French citizens support the measure.
As the debate intensifies, the proposed tax is shaping up to be a flashpoint between France’s economic elite and a government under growing pressure to address wealth inequality, public sentiment, and political stability ahead of the 2026 budget showdown.
