Catherwood LibraryILR School

There is a growing group of heads of the nation?s largest businesses that believe that the economy needs a smaller wealth gap to function efficiently. Five in particular represent different political leanings and geographies, but all support closing the wealth gap. Warren Buffett, Ron Unz, Nick Hanauer, and Leo Hindery Jr. support congressional action to raise the minimum wage. The fifth, Steve Silberstein advocates for limiting CEO pay. Each of these men began their campaign in private, working with associates and friends, but have taken very public roles in the debate over inequality in America as the problem has worsened. Harvard Business School professor Michael Norton likens these Point-One-Percenters to Carnegie, Mellon, and Rockefeller, who made their fortune, but also realized that the broader social context in which they accumulated their wealth mattered and began leading philanthropic works.