Politics

Billionaire Leon Cooperman Rips Into Reddit Traders, Says Calls For ‘Fair Share’ Taxes Attack Wealthy

Screenshot/CNBC

Virginia Kruta Associate Editor
Font Size:

Billionaire Leon Cooperman said Thursday that investors who were flooding the market and manipulating stocks like GameStop and AMC would only end up losing.

The Omega Advisors CEO appeared on “Fast Money Halftime” on CNBC and weighed in on the redactors who have been attempting to short squeeze a number of larger hedge funds by buying up certain stocks in large numbers. (RELATED: ‘It’s Making Me Sick!’: Charles Payne Goes Off At Wall Street ‘Whining’ Over GameStop Stock Surge)

WATCH:

“There’s no one that can convince me that GameStop will not be a lower priced stock a year or two years from now. Nobody,” Cooperman said, arguing that most of the people buying up the stock did not understand the way the market would work in the longer term and may not achieve the outcome they were hoping for.

“It will end in tears, in my opinion … It’s a loser’s game and they have no idea what they’re doing,” he said.

Cooperman stayed on for a second segment, during which he pivoted to address President Joe Biden’s potential economic policies and how they might impact the markets.

WATCH:

“Right now President Biden is tackling the easy things,” Cooperman said. “All of us want to get the virus behind us, right? So anything he does to battle the virus is universally welcome.”

Cooperman went on to say that tunes might change when Biden started to talk about raising taxes on capital gains or ordinary income.

“In a recent speech he talked about fair share. I hate that expression with a passion. What does fair share mean?” Cooperman asked.

“I’ve said on your program numerous times, I’m willing to work six months a year for the government and six months for myself, which means a marginal tax rate of 50%,” he continued. “If you live in California, Connecticut, New Jersey and New York you’re already well past that and this fair share is a bulls**t concept and it’s just a way of attacking wealthy people and you know, I think it’s inappropriate. We all have to work together and pull together.”