By
Svetlana Soroka
April 18th, 2024
The 10 richest people on earth saw their collective fortunes increase 2X during the first two years of the pandemic.
Despite the pandemic and the global economic meltdown, the world billionaires garnered more wealth in 2021. According to a report from Oxfam International, the wealth the world’s billionaires accumulated in 2021 was at an “unprecedented” rate in human history. The organization’s “Inequality Kills” report reveals that the 2,755 billionaires on earth saw a rise in their cumulative wealth. Combinedly, their wealth jump by $5 trillion since March last year. The report states that billionaires’ wealth since the pandemic started has grown more than it has in 12 years. The organization says the massive growth can be tied to the intervention of governments all over the world which has fueled stock prices.
Additional $5T Wealth Garnered by World’s Billionaires in 2021 Exceeds Both Apple and Amazon’s Market Caps
The additional cumulative wealth of these individuals since March 2021 surpasses the combined market valuations of Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) and Amazon.com Inc (NASDAQ: AMZN). Since March 2021, the cumulative wealth of the world’s billionaires grew from $8.6 trillion to a whopping $13.8 trillion. In comparison, Apple has a market cap of $2.77 trillion while Amazon’s market value stands at $1.61 trillion. In total, the combined market capitalizations of the two multinational companies are $4.48 trillion.
Oxfam emphasizes the enormous growth in wealth within a short period. The charitable organization says, “wealth concentration at the top now surpasses the peak of the Gilded Age of the late 19th century.” Since 1995, the top 1% of all the wealthiest people’s wealth has increased 19X than the bottom 50%. Just last year, the 10 richest in the world saw over $400 billion added to their fortunes. Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA) CEO Elon Musk had the highest amount of wealth added to his fortune with $121 billion. According to Bloomberg Billionaire Index, Musk has a total net worth of $256 billion.
World’s Top 10 Richest Records Doubled Fortune During Pandemic
The 10 richest people on earth saw their collective fortunes increase 2X during the first two years of the pandemic. Their fortunes advanced from $700 billion to $1.4 trillion. According to Oxfam, that represents a rate of about $15,000 per second. Oxfam’s executive director, Gabriela Bucher, analyzes in the report:
“If these 10 men were to lose 99.999% of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99% of all the people on this planet. They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people.”
As the rich got richer, “the incomes of 99% of humanity are worse off” due to the global heath crisis. About 163 million more people are estimated to be living in poverty, relying on less than $5.50 a day.
“If we are courageous, and listen to the movements demanding change, we can create an economy in which nobody lives in poverty, nor with unimaginable wealth- in which inequality no longer kills,” states Oxfam.