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The net worth of the world's richest people is exploding.
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Billionaires are out of the game. The first trillionaires are on the way.
Five people are expected to amass at least $1 trillion in wealth over the next decade, according to Oxfam's annual inequality report, released Sunday. Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, currently the world's richest person with a net worth of more than $430 billion, is expected to reach that milestone in just under five years. They will soon be joined by Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg, and LVMH CEO Bernard Arnault, and their families.
The Oxfam report, which is based on data compiled by Forbes, was released at the start of the World Economic Forum's annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, an elite gathering of some of the world's richest people and leaders. Its release also comes a day before the inauguration of billionaire President-elect Donald Trump.
2024 was a very profitable year for the world's richest individuals and families, driven in part by the rise of the U.S. stock market, Oxfam found. Their net worth has grown so rapidly that Oxfam revised its estimate last year that only one billionaire would be crowned in the next decade. "It's an unimaginable amount," Rebecca Riddell, senior policy officer at Oxfam America, said of $1 trillion. "This extreme inequality is no cause for celebration." »
Last year, the ranks of the billionaire class grew from just over 200 people to almost 2,770 Their wealth grew by $ 2.1 trillion, three times faster than the year before, to a total of $ 15 trillions. Only in the United States, where 816 billionaires reside, the net worth of this group increased by $1.4 trillion. Also, if one of the 10 richest people lost 99% of their wealth, they would still be a billionaire, Oxfam found.
At the same time, the number of people living in poverty is almost the same as in 1990, according to the report, which cites data from the World Bank.
Inherited wealth
This year's Oxfam report, "Takers not Makers," also highlights that more than a third of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance. In 2023, for the first time, more billionaires accumulated their wealth through inheritance than through entrepreneurship. In addition, 17 billionaires under 30 had their wealth passed down.
This transfer of assets is facilitated by the fact that two-thirds of countries do not tax inheritance on direct descendants, Riddell said. In the United States, inheritance taxes have been eliminated by tax cuts and tax avoidance strategies.
"If we don't act, we will see the largest generational transfer of wealth in human history – hard-earned and taxed, if we don't act," he said, adding that Oxfam is calling on governments to ensure that the rich and corporations pay their fair share of taxes.
Growing political power
The rich also have increasing influence over politics. Oxfam points to the incoming Trump administration as a prime example. It includes nearly a dozen people who own at least $1 billion alone or with their spouses, making them among the richest in history. Musk, who has poured more than $260 million into Trump's 2024 campaign, is a senior adviser to the president-elect and co-heads the so-called Department of Government Efficiency.
"Musk and the tremendous influence he has on politics and policy is truly emblematic of the unchecked billionaire power that now defines our economic and political system," Riddell said.
In his farewell speech from the Oval Office last week, President Joe Biden warned of the concentration of power in the hands of "a very small number of ultra-wealthy individuals."
"Today, an oligarchy is taking shape in America, with extreme wealth, power and influence, that threatens literally all of our democracy, our basic rights and freedoms, and equal opportunity for all," he said.
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