Gabriel Zucman, an economics professor at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, the Paris School of Economics and the University of California, Berkeley, addressed newly appointed Prime Minister Sébastien Lecornu on X: "Good evening, Mr. Prime Minister. The time has come to tax billionaires." The next day, the economist appeared on France 2's evening news program, where the host described him as "the billionaires' nemesis." Smiling, Zucman said he was available around the clock if the prime minister wished to consider such a tax, which "the French need." The 38-year-old economist has shown flexibility, telling Le Monde that his proposal "is only a starting point that can be improved." The tax, which proposes a 2% wealth tax on fortunes exceeding €100 million, was adopted in a first reading by France's Assemblée Nationale in February before being rejected by the Sénat three months later.

Born in 1986 in Paris, Zucman shares little about his private life. The son of two doctors, he grew up in a well-off family. He said his sensitivity to injustice was fueled by his work on offshore companies and tax evasion data. He does not belong to any political party, but the left, particularly the Socialists, asked him in early September to draft an alternative budget to that of former prime minister François Bayrou. Overwhelmed by media requests, he has delegated responses to an "old friend and communications adviser," Pierre Natnaël Bussiere, who described him as a "republican revolutionary: his loyalty to the Republic comes through his loyalty to justice. He wants to provide a rational foundation for the feeling of injustice."

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