I think you're missing the thrust of ProPublica's reporting. This is not an article claiming that laws have been broken. It is pointing out the difference in intent and reality for a part of our financial law. It is not that Thiel is getting huge windfalls from this account now (he is a billionaire, he does not need them), it's that this is another example of a billionaire getting abnormally large absolute benefits from a financial instrument.
The message is not that Thiel has committed some crime, but that he has cleverly and successfully used an instrument designed for the 'middle class' to shelter billions in earnings. The implication is that we should reform these tax vehicles so that the ultra-wealthy cannot use them - not that Thiel is cheating the system as it exists. The lines which talk about contribution limits to Roths are to emphasize that this was not intended to shelter this kind of wealth.
> This is someone who used the law exactly as intended
I 100% agree Thiel has broken no crime and I think you should be *embarrassed* to say that the people who created the Roth intended this. There is no evidence of that. We should recognize that this Roth IRA is sheltering more money than people expected and make (or refrain from making) regulatory changes in response.
The message is not that Thiel has committed some crime, but that he has cleverly and successfully used an instrument designed for the 'middle class' to shelter billions in earnings. The implication is that we should reform these tax vehicles so that the ultra-wealthy cannot use them - not that Thiel is cheating the system as it exists. The lines which talk about contribution limits to Roths are to emphasize that this was not intended to shelter this kind of wealth.
> This is someone who used the law exactly as intended
I 100% agree Thiel has broken no crime and I think you should be *embarrassed* to say that the people who created the Roth intended this. There is no evidence of that. We should recognize that this Roth IRA is sheltering more money than people expected and make (or refrain from making) regulatory changes in response.