The everywhere millionaire: who is really rich in America and how they got there

The story of wealth in America isn’t just about Wall Street or Silicon Valley—it’s also about the quiet fortunes of Main Street business owners, whose growing economic and political power often escapes the spotlight. For every public company CEO, more than a thousand private business owners hold now transformational wealth. These fortunes have been supercharged by changes to the taxation of business profits in past decades and are quietly rewriting the rules of money and power. Eric Zwick will discuss his forthcoming book The Everywhere Millionaire, co-authored with Owen Zidar.

Drawing on novel data and a decade of research, this work sheds light on a class of Americans who have built staggering fortunes in everyday trades whilst largely passing under the radar. He will reveal where “Main Street Millionaires” come from, how they’ve become rich, and how much they make. He will also highlight the increasing power they hold over political processes, often shaping policy to protect what they’ve built. This group is both growing the economic pie and grabbing bigger slices for themselves, necessitating a detailed look at their rapid, yet under-studied rise.

Meet our speaker and chair

Eric Zwick is the Joel F. Gemunder Professor of Economics and Finance at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business and co-author of the forthcoming book The Everywhere Millionaire: Who is Really Rich in America and How They Got There. He researches the interaction between public policy and corporate behaviour and is a leading voice in academic debates on income and wealth inequality. Professor Zwick and earned his Ph.D. in Business Economics from Harvard University.

Andy Summers is Director of the Centre for Analysis of Taxation and an associate professor in the Law School at LSE. His research combines legal expertise with quantitative analysis of administrative data, working in collaboration with economists and other social scientists. His recent work focuses on the evaluation of taxes affecting top earners and the wealthy, and the design of asset registers. At LSE he teaches courses on tax policy and design and the taxation of wealth.

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The International Inequalities Institute (@LSEInequalities) at LSE brings together experts from many of the School's departments and centres to lead cutting-edge research focused on understanding why inequalities are escalating in numerous arenas across the world, and to develop critical tools to address these challenges.

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