Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry challenged United Airlines Holdings, Inc. CEO Scott Kirby to share his salary with lower-paid employees or donate toward U.S. debt after Kirby proposed national taxes on wealth and inheritances.
In a post on X, Landry suggested dividing Kirby's salary among lower-paid workers and linked to a federal page for donations toward the national debt. His reference to salary concerns a smaller figure than the total compensation disclosed in United's filing.
United's 2026 proxy statement listed Kirby's 2025 total compensation at $32,282,253. That figure includes $22,565,804 in stock awards and $1,200,000 in salary. The stock awards were valued for disclosure purposes, so the reported total does not show how much cash Kirby received.
The company estimated that Kirby's compensation was about 334 times that of its median employee, whose annual compensation was $96,670. The median is the midpoint of employee pay. United said it calculated the ratio using permitted disclosure methods.
The New York Times reported that, in an interview published Oct. 18, Kirby supported a national wealth tax because wealthy people could move to avoid a tax imposed by one state. He gave no rate for the national proposal. He also backed inheritance taxes approaching 100% above an unspecified inheritance threshold and said he would pay the taxes he proposed.
The Guardian reported that commentator Glenn Beck called for a boycott of United. Fox Business reported that one X user said they would not spend more with the airline, while another questioned whether to fly it.
Separately, California's official ballot summary describes Proposition 40 as a one-time tax of up to 5% on certain taxpayers with assets exceeding $1 billion. A legislative analysis says 90% of the revenue would go to health care. California voters will decide the measure Nov. 3.
