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Bloomberg’s Year-End Wealth of the World’s Billionaires Report shows the richest 500 people on the planet added $ 1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, accumulating a total net worth of 7. $ 6 trillion.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index recorded its biggest annual gain in list history last year, with the wealth of the richest people increasing 31%.
The historic accumulation of wealth came as the world grappled with the coronavirus pandemic and corresponding economic crisis, which last month warned the United Nations as a “tipping point” expected to send more than 207 millions more people in extreme poverty over the next decade – bringing the number of people living in extreme poverty to one billion by 2030.
Even in the richest country in the world, the United States, the rapidly widening gap between the richest and the poorest has widened especially in 2020.
As Dan Price, entrepreneur and fair wage advocate, tweeted, the richest 500 people in the world accumulated as much wealth in 2020 as “the poorest 165 million Americans have earned in their entire lifetimes. “.
Nine of the 10 richest people in the world live in the United States and have more than $ 1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, with more than half of American adults living in households that have lost income due to the pandemic, nearly 26 million Americans have said they don’t have enough food and other groceries. in November, which contributed to an increase in shoplifting of essentials, including diapers and infant formula. About 12 million renters are expected to owe nearly $ 6,000 in rent arrears after the new year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk experienced historic growth in wealth last year, becoming the second richest person in the world and dropping Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to third place. Musk’s total net worth increased by $ 142 billion in 2020, to $ 170 billion – the fastest personal wealth creation in history, according to Bloomberg.
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tops the list, with a net worth of $ 190 billion. Bezos added more than $ 75 billion to his wealth in 2020 as the public became dependent on online shopping due to COVID-19 restrictions and public health concerns.
While Bezos and a few others in the United States have amassed historic gains in personal wealth over the past year, the federal government has yet to provide much meaningful help to struggling Americans. The Republican-led Senate continued to block a vote on legislation that would send $ 2,000 checks to many U.S. households on Friday.
Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell denounced the proposal as “socialism for the rich” even though the plan includes a phase-out structure and only individuals earning up to $ 115,000 a year – not those in the highest tax brackets – would receive checks.
“The rising wealth of billionaires touches a sore nerve for the millions of people who have lost loved ones and experienced declining health, wealth and livelihoods,” Chuck Collins, program director on inequality and the common good at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Bloomberg this week. “Worse yet, it undermines any sense that we are ‘together’ – the solidarity needed to get through the difficult months ahead.”
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