Billionaire Ken Griffin blasts socialism, says ‘soaking the rich doesn’t work’
Billionaire – and newly named 3rd richest hedge funder in the world – Ken Griffin defended capitalism while blasting calls for a redistribution of wealth from left-wing socialists.
“Soaking the rich doesn’t work,” Griffin told Bloomberg on Tuesday from the Milken Institute Global Conference in Beverly Hills, California.
The Chicago-based hedge-tycoon, who made headlines in January for buying the most expensive home ever sold in the U.S. for $238 million, instead cited education as the cause of America’s biggest problems.
Students he said are “completely disillusioned with their economic prospects given the huge amount of debt that they’ve been saddled with, courtesy of the U.S. government, combined with the extraordinarily high cost of education they’ve been paying, courtesy of the U.S. government.”
While speaking at Milken, Griffin told the crowd that where we see government involvement the most through subsidizations is “where we often see the economy break down the greatest.”
Griffin’s comments come in contrast to those of billionaire Ray Dalio, who topped this year’s hedge fund ‘rich’ list with his $2 billion salary, according to the Institution Investor’s annual list.
Earlier this month, Dalio cited wealth inequality as a “national emergency” which needs to be reformed immediately.
"I was raised with the belief that having equal opportunity to have basic care, good education, and employment is what is fair and best for our collective well-being," Dalio wrote in a LinkedIn op-ed.
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Griffin, however, was adamant that socialism is not the answer while also admitting that “the free market is, of course, not perfect” either.
“I’ve seen the American Dream work out and I’ve seen the consequences of economic freedom play out for all of my colleagues,” Griffin said.