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Tax secrets of the rich and famous

Good morning! This Wednesday, a look into ProPublica's tax data, the Senate passed the Endless Frontier Act, why Fastly is responsible for a big chunk of the internet, Timnit Gebru's last days at Google, and how to go viral on LinkedIn.
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People always assumed that billionaires didn't pay their fair share of taxes by paying an army of financial consultants to find the necessary tax loopholes and exploit them. But ProPublica's publishing of a trove of private IRS tax return data is the first real glimpse into the hard numbers of just how much someone's "wealth" doesn't match what they pay in taxes and how they do it.
Those figures are tiny compared to how much their wealth grew at the time. Bezos's fortune over that same period grew $99 billion — giving him what ProPublica calls a "true tax rate" of 0.98%. Musk's rate was a smidge higher at 3.27%. Warren Buffett had the lowest "true tax rate" at 0.1%.
Before you grab a pitchfork, there is a difference between someone's wealth and their income, and the tech industry in particular thrives on the distinction between the two. Most of the "wealth" of leaders like Musk and Bezos is tied up in their stock holdings. Those are unrealized gains.
The U.S. taxes the income (or losses) the billionaires derive from their wealth, not the wealth itself. If Amazon's stock doubles, Bezos's net worth also jumps up, but that doesn't count (in taxable terms) as income until Bezos sells the shares. Same goes for a startup that goes from a $1 billion valuation to a $10 billion valuation. ProPublica's decision to measure wealth versus income tax as a "true tax rate" has certainly raised a few eyebrows.
The world's wealthiest people are still paying less than many Americans, even if you look just at income levels, according to ProPublica's calculation. And that difference — along with the cognitive dissonance of Bezos being worth billions and still paying nothing — will only continue to drive wealth inequality in the country.
Meanwhile, ProPublica is sitting on a trove of tax records from an unknown source, so the next big story might be the investigation into who gave the news organization raw financial data on the world's wealthiest people.
The most recent elections made it clear: Voters in both political parties support higher wages. The federal minimum wage hasn't changed in 12 years, despite significant cost-of-living increases. Amazon saw the need to do more for their employees and communities and in 2018 raised their starting wage to at least $15 an hour.
Cyberattacks are happening at an absolutely massive scale, Johnson & Johnson CISO Marene Allison said:
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Dan Vitale was the star of LinkedIn yesterday after the NFL fullback announced his retirement in a post. "I'm looking for a new role and would appreciate your support," he said, before listing his credentials and goals for the future. He went semi-viral, which is about the best thing you can hope for in a job search!
Experts everywhere think this summer is going to be full of job changes and turnover at practically every company. And as Fast Company reported, it turns out there's a lot to learn from Vitale's post, like using the #OpenToWork hashtag and generally over-communicating what you're looking for and where. You should do the same on all your platforms, too, not just LinkedIn.
Question, though: If you're looking to start a career as an NFL fullback, should you also post that on LinkedIn? Asking for a friend.
"This is the first time in my life that I have dental insurance, vision insurance, [and] life insurance." Making more than $15 an hour and comprehensive benefits gives Leonardo and Amazon employees like him peace of mind and the freedom to do more — like go back to school.
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