They would still have all the advantages of the business connections they made as a billionaire, and would still have a massive advantage over everyone else.
It's also not one or two billion, it's multiple hundreds of billion owned by one person. I don't think you can overstress the difference in scale between millions, hundred millions, billions, and hundred billions.
There used to be taxes assessed by total asset valuation that focused more on wealthy individuals because they don't earn as much from income it's mostly assets increasing in value like property or ownership shares, that was stopped when they introduced the income tax that mostly targets low and middle class people who almost exclusively earn by income.
Loopholes like offshore accounts used to dodge income taxes by higher earners should be illegal, but the whole system is backwards forcing the least prosperous to shoulder the largest tax burden instead of the wealthiest who benefit from society the most.
This was tested...sort of. He didn't give away his money he just supposedly didn't make use of it essentially hitting the road as a fake homeless and making money by selling stuff he bought on facebook market.
The fellow was a millionaire not a billionaire and I think he went from nothing to ~50k in nearly a year. He called it off early because he was basically destroying his health.
I say tax rates should be decided based on wealth shares.
Break it down like this, brackets set at the 20th, 40th, 60th, 80th, 95th, and 99th percentiles of household incomes.
People in the 20th 40th and 60th percentile brackets pay a tax rate equal to how much wealth is controlled by households in each of those brackets.
People in the 80 and 95 brackets pay twice the share they control.
People in the 99 bracket pay three times, and also can't hold public office for ten years after the last time they peak this bracket because, objectively, they are doing just fine for themselves and don't need to be going ahead of others who have actual problems a nation should be focused on addressing.
Also, with very few exceptions like a mortgage on a primary residence or a car loan for a primary vehicle, loans collateralized on capital assets are treated as income for tax purposes.
I mean those who have a crap ton of money have it because they don't mind exploiting others in terrible ways to get it. So maybe the cream would rise back up to the top psychopaths.
They would. It's an interesting mindset to have. There's people who get into debt over stupid chit... like cars and jewelry. And there's people who get into debt by pulling loans and investing with said loans to then multiply their investments and intentionally stay in perpetual debt for their financial benefit. They don't feel the stress of owing money back to the banks, they're a godless (it is a sin within Abrahamic religions to not pay back your debts, essentially, you're stealing someone else's money) and immoral people.