Billionaire Jeff Bezos on Wednesday promoted artificial intelligence, blamed government interference for the economic crisis and broadly defended himself and his mega-wealthy peers in an exclusive interview with CNBC.
But Amazon And the Blue Origin founder, in a wide-ranging interview with Andrew Ross Sorkin, initially took a populist tone, at times sounding more like some progressive Democrat than one of the most successful capitalists in history.
Asked about the growing criticism toward billionaires, Bezos told Sorkin at the beginning of the interview, “It’s kind of a tale of two economies.” “You have a group of people in this country who are doing really well, but you also have a group of people in this country who are struggling.”
He quickly endorsed a tax-policy idea that resonated with some democrat One proposal to court working-class voters: Eliminate income taxes for the bottom half of American earners.
“A nurse in Queens who makes $75,000 a year pays more than $12,000 a year in taxes,” Bezos said. “Does it really mean anything?”
However, Bezos’ alliance with the left did not go much further.
Bezos condemns ‘condemnation’ of the rich
Jeff Bezos speaks to CNBC’s Squawk Box from Merritt Island, Florida on May 20, 2026.
cnbc
Shortly after acknowledging Americans’ financial struggles, Bezos, the world’s fourth-richest man, accused politicians of adopting the “age-old technique” of “picking villains and pointing fingers.”
“The problem is that it doesn’t solve anything,” Bezos said. He later criticized New York City Mayor Zohran Mamdani. Much-discussed video of billionaire Citadel CEO Ken Griffin unveiling a new pied-a-terror tax.
Bezos said “it’s not right” for the mayor to “stand in front of Ken Griffin’s house and behave like he’s some kind of villain.” “Ken Griffin is not a villain, he’s not hurting anyone, he’s not hurting New York, in fact it’s quite the opposite.”
Asked whether his proposal to cut taxes for low-income Americans should be matched with higher rates for top earners, Bezos said it was a legitimate debate, but decried the “condemnation” that accompanies it.
“We already have the most progressive tax system in the world,” he said, arguing that overspending, not revenues, is the source of the country’s fiscal problems.
He took on several critics, such as Senator Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., who accuse him of not paying enough taxes.
He said, “People sometimes say that, you know, I don’t pay taxes. That’s not true. I pay billions of dollars in taxes.”
Making him pay more is not a solution in itself, Bezos insisted: “You can double the taxes I pay, and it won’t help that teacher in Queens, I promise you.”
Mamdani responded in an X post later Wednesday, saying, “I know some teachers in Queens who would not agree with this.”
Bezos blamed government interference in the market for high rental prices. And while he said that corporations and “in some cases, rich people have too much influence in politics”, he also called on unions for political intervention.
Buy, borrow, refuse?
Amazon.com Inc. during the Americas Business Forum on Thursday, November 6, 2025 in Miami, Florida, US. Founder Jeff Bezos.
Eva Marie Uzcategui | Bloomberg | getty images
Bezos also flatly denied widespread allegations that society’s richest people take advantage of a strategy called “…Buy, Borrow, Die,” in which they borrow money against their large estate to reduce their tax burden.
He said, “There’s no truth to this ‘buy, borrow, die’ thing. I don’t even know where it comes from.” “I’m regularly selling Amazon stock.”
When Sorkin noted that the world’s richest man, Elon Musk, takes out large loans in exchange for his stock, Bezos said, “I have little doubt that this is a real loophole, but if it is, can we fix it? So we should.”
Still, he stressed that addressing that issue still wouldn’t make much difference. “That nurse in Queens…this isn’t going to help her,” he said.
Bezos’ belief in free-market principles has never been more evident than when he criticized the growing narrative that billionaires’ vast wealth could never be acquired fairly.
“It’s simply not right,” Bezos said of that approach, which has been endorsed by politicians including Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y.
He pointed to major fast-food chains In-N-Out Burgers and Raising Cane’s Chicken Fingers as examples.
He said, “The way you make $1 billion, or $100 million or $10 million or whatever, is you create a service that people love, and if millions of people choose your service, you’re going to end up with a billion dollars.” “Just try it with the chicken franchise.”
oh ok
Bezos also dismissed fears of job displacement induced by artificial intelligence and argued that the technology will enhance the workforce and improve the economy.
“I think those people are absolutely wrong,” he said of AI deniers. “Really what’s going to happen is it’s going to lift up all these people.”
He predicted that the new technology would boost productivity, resulting in deflation across a range of goods and services – but only if “we let this technology run and don’t disrupt it with regulation too early.”
The optimism from Bezos comes as public perception of AI has worsened in recent months.
a fresh Pew Research Center The survey found that half of US adults are worried rather than excited about the increasing use of AI in daily life. Respondents pointed to the potential harm of AI on creativity and relationships and expressed pessimism about its impact on education and jobs.
The rapid growth of AI data centers, which can span hundreds of thousands of square feet, has sparked widespread backlash among people concerned about their impacts on the lives of nearby residents.
The rise of AI coding tools from companies like Anthropic and Cursor has also raised fears that they could displace software engineers and programmers. Tech companies have claimed productivity gains from these tools amid widespread cost-cutting efforts that have led to mass layoffs.
Bezos argued that AI coding tools are not a threat to software engineers. He said they would help programmers identify and solve problems in their work.
“It’s just that the work will be done at a higher level,” Bezos said. “This will be done with bulldozers instead of shovels and that will be a good thing.”
Bezos considers Trump ‘more mature’
Bezos tells Sorkin he trusts the president Donald Trump is “a more mature, more disciplined version of himself than he was in his first term.”
Bezos said, “Trump has a lot of good ideas, and he’s done a lot of things — he’s right about a lot of things. You have to give him credit where credit is due.”
He did not give specific information. Trump’s second term administration has repeatedly tapped into the free market to boost some companies intel And boeing To US Steel.
He also rejected allegations that Amazon’s decision to release an expensive documentary on first lady Melania Trump was an attempt to curry favor with the president. He said, “The Melania thing is a lie that will not end.”
Bezos described his efforts as non-partisan, noting that he has also been in contact with Democratic former presidents Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
“We need our business leaders to provide input into the administration, no matter who is president,” he said.
“I’m on the side of America,” he said. “And that’s where business leaders need to be.”
