Tom Perkins, the legendary venture capitalist who provoked a firestorm by comparing the persecution of Jews in Nazi Germany to the way rich people are treated in the United States, on Thursday offered a provocative idea about how to “change the world.” During an interview with a Fortune magazine jornalist, Perkins said that only U.S. taxpayers should be able to vote in elections.
But that’s not all. Perkins went on to say that wealthy people should get more votes than others because they pay more in taxes. The comments by Perkins, who made his fortune as one of the founders of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins Caufield & Byers, provoked laughter at the San Francisco Commonwealth Club, where he was being interviewed by Adam Lashinsky of Fortune. Perkins would later say that his comments were meant to be “provocative,” according to Reuters, and at least one reporter at the event said the 82-year-old later claimed he wasn’t being serious.
Image: Robert Galbraith / REUTERS - Venture capitalist Tom Perkins is interviewed in his office in San Francisco, California September 12, 2011. Perkins is a co-founder of venture capital firm Kleiner Perkins and the backer of companies ranging from Genentech to Google. Read more: Wealthy Venture Capitalist Tom Perkins: Rich Should Get More Votes | TIME.com http://business.time.com/2014/02/14/tom-perkins-taxes/#ixzz2tW61w8bU
To read the original article: Wealthy Venture Capitalist Tom Perkins: Rich Should Get More Votes | TIME.com
