'The rich should bear a larger increase than the rest,' Gates said. Bill Gates: 'Have to raise taxes'

Bill Gates said Thursday that the country has got to hike taxes and the wealthy should shoulder a greater burden of the increase, while he rejected any close correlation between job creation and the level of taxes.

“Even as the economy improves and you end the wars, you’re going to have to raise taxes and certainly, whatever form it takes, and I’m not an expert on this — the rich should bear a larger increase than the rest,” the billionaire founder of Microsoft told Fox News Thursday in Switzerland, where he is attending the World Economic Forum.


When asked about the argument that taxing the wealthy would actually hinder job creation by putting pressure on companies to contract and hire less, Gates said he didn’t see that to be the case.

“There is no strong correlation between job creation and what the tax environment has been at any point in time,” gates said. “If something’s a profitable activity, you’re going to engage in it. Yes, there are tax rates that are so high that people may work less. But that’s — you have to get up in the 50, 60 percent range before that’s the case.”

According to Forbes, Gates is the second richest person in the world with a net worth of about $56 billion. Coming in at a close third-place is Warren Buffett with a net worth of about $50 billion. President Barack Obama said in his State of the Union address this week that under the “Buffett Rule,” millionaires should pay a minimum tax rate of at least 30 percent, even for income derived from investments.

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Bill Gates