Billionaire Leon Cooperman warns Elizabeth Warren is 'taking the country down a very wrong path'

• Billionaire Leon Cooperman called out Democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's wealth tax proposal on CNBC Monday, calling the policy a "bankrupt concept."
• The famous investor also said Warren is "taking the country down a very wrong path" by vilifying rich people.
• Cooperman sent a five-page letter to Warren last week addressing the escalating spat between the two over the senator's policy positions.
• Visit the Business Insider homepage for more stories.

Billionaire Leon Cooperman is worried about democratic presidential candidate Elizabeth Warren's "vilification" of the rich through her wealth tax policy.

"I feel she's taking the country down a very wrong path," Cooperman said on CNBC Monday.

He added: "What's she peddling is bull. Total, complete bull. That comes from someone who believes in a progressive income tax structure, who believes the rich should pay more. I have no problem with that."

The famous founder of Omega Advisors has repeatedly called out Warren's proposal for taxing the wealthy. The two have exchanged a number of remarks, culminating last week when Cooperman sent a five-page letter to Warren debating her policy positions.

On Monday, Cooperman called Warren's wealth tax a "bankrupt concept" and said it could "lead to inappropriate actions in the economy that are counterproductive."

Cooperman used Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos as an example. Under Warren's policy, a billionaire like Bezos could be obligated to pay as much as a 3% annual tax on his net worth, as opposed to his annual income.

That type of policy could push people with most of their wealth tied up in company ownership - like Bezos with Amazon - to sell shares every year to pay the tax despite the outlook for their business, he said.

Cooperman also said gold would surge because people would use the asset as a way to hide their wealth.

One point Cooperman has consistently turned to is that he plans to give away almost all of his money eventually, but he wants to control where it goes.

"She's screwing around with the wrong guy," he said, referring to Warren, who criticized Cooperman in a tweet last week.

Cooperman has predicted in the past that a Warren or Bernie Sanders presidency would tank the stock market by 25%.

"The significance of an event for the stock market is a function of what the stock market is discounting at the time the event occurs," Cooperman said Monday.

With the S&P 500 sitting above 3,000, the market is pricing in a Trump re-election in 2020, he said.