UFC President and CEO Dana White recently appeared on a podcast with host David Senra, where he shared his thoughts on the growing anti-capitalist sentiment and billionaire criticism in America.
The topic came up when Senra, whose father immigrated from Cuba, described capitalism as something that had fundamentally changed his family’s life. He then asked White about previous comments he had made regarding younger generations becoming increasingly hostile toward billionaires and wealth.
White responded by pointing to what he sees happening in places like California.
“It’s funny because if you look at the situation that California is in right now, and all these billionaires are trying to figure out how to get out of there,” White said. “Billionaires are very important to the ecosystem of the United States.”
He continued by explaining why he believes wealthy individuals play a major role in keeping the country functioning financially.
“The amount of money these guys pay in taxes, how do you think everything stays afloat?” he said. “How do you think the state comes up with the money to fix the roads and build the highways and infrastructure in every city in America? It comes from billionaires, millionaires, the middle class, and people who work their asses off and pay their taxes. That’s where all the money comes from.”
White then recalled a recent interview that frustrated him, where someone questioned whether showcasing his success during difficult economic times could come across negatively.
“I was just doing an interview two days ago and they were walking around looking at my office and looking at the gym,” White said. “And the woman was like, ‘There’s hard times right now. Some people are going through it and don’t you think if they’re going to see this and be like, well, you know, oh, this is terrible that this guy.’”
According to White, that kind of thinking reflects a mindset he strongly disagrees with.
“You’re not it and you’re never going to be it,” he said. “You got the vic tim mentality and you’re never going to be that person.”
White argued that people should look at successful individuals as motivation rather than something to resent.
“What you should look at what I have is say that guy barely graduated high school and believed in something, did all the right things,” he said. “If that guy can do it, I can do it. That’s how you should think.”
He then talked about people who dedicate themselves entirely to building businesses or climbing the ladder professionally.
“And then you have the guy who’s going to come in and grind in the business and run a department and do very well for himself and is a part of building something like this,” he said. “And then you got the guy that’s like, ‘Yeah, I’m not working for anybody. I’m going to go out and I’m going to make it happen for myself.’”
What White said he has never understood is the resentment some people direct toward wealthy entrepreneurs and business owners.
“If you look at somebody, I’ve looked at many people and never ever have I looked at somebody who’s had incredible wealth, built unbelievable businesses and said, ‘Yeah, f*** that guy,’” White said.
Instead, he believes there is value in studying how successful people reached that level.
“I’ve always said, ‘Wow,’” he said. “You can learn lots of different things from lots of different people in different industries and what they built and how they built it.”
