The Indicator from Planet Money · September 28, 2026 · 9m

How the rich make money by losing money

The Indicator explores how an obscure investment strategy is enabling wealthy Americans to reduce their capital gains tax rate from historic highs of 40% to near zero. Bloomberg reporter Loukia Gyftopoulou explains the 'great American tax dodge' and the mysterious 'mad genius' behind the strategy that has helped build the world's largest hedge fund.

This summary was generated from show notes and public descriptions, not from a full transcript review. Details may contain inaccuracies.

Preview

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Rich Americans used to pay up to 40% tax on investments

Decades ago, wealthy Americans faced capital gains tax rates as high as 40 percent.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

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An obscure investment strategy now allows the wealthy to slash tax rates toward zero

A little-known strategy has helped the ultra-wealthy reduce their effective tax rate on investments to roughly zero percent.

Claude ChatGPT Gemini

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