Bloomberg’s year-end report on the wealth of the world’s billionaires shows that the 500 richest 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 the list’s history last year, with a 31% increase in the wealth of the wealthiest people.
The historic accumulation of wealth came when the world faced the coronavirus pandemic and its corresponding economic crisis, which the United Nations last month warned was a “tipping point” set to send more than 207 million people into extreme poverty in 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 widening gap between the richest and the poorest became especially sharp in 2020.
As Dan Price, a businessman and advocate for fair wages, tweeted, the world’s 500 richest people accumulated as much wealth in 2020 as “the poorest 165 million Americans have earned in their entire lives.”
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 families that lost income due to the pandemic, almost 26 million Americans reported having insufficient food and other supplies in November – contributing to an increase in the theft of essentials, including diapers and infant formula. . About 12 million tenants were expected to owe nearly $ 6,000 in late rent after the new year.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw historic growth in wealth last year, becoming the second richest person in the world and taking Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates to third place. Musk’s total net worth grew 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 restrictions on COVID-19 and concern for public health.
Although Bezos and a few others selected in the U.S. have accumulated historic gains in personal wealth in the past year, the federal government has yet to extend much in the way of significant assistance to struggling Americans. The Republican-led Senate on Friday continued to block a vote on legislation that would send checks for $ 2,000 to many American families.
Senate majority leader Mitch McConnell denounced the proposal as “socialism for the rich”, although the plan includes a phase-out structure and only individuals who earn up to $ 115,000 a year – not those in the highest tax brackets – receive checks.
“The rise in billionaire wealth is at a critical point for millions of people who have lost loved ones and experienced declines in their health, wealth and livelihoods,” Chuck Collins, director of the Inequality and the Common Good Program at the Institute for Policy Studies, told Bloomberg this week. “Worse, it undermines any sense that we are ‘in this together’ – the solidarity needed to face the difficult months ahead.”