World’s Five Wealthiest Men Double Their Money, Poorest Fall Behind
The richest five individuals in the world have increased their combined fortune to $869bn (£681.5bn) since 2020, while the world’s poorest 60% – nearly 5 billion people – have lost money. These details come from a report by Oxfam, as the world’s wealthiest people gather in Davos, Switzerland for the annual World Economic Forum meeting of political leaders, corporate executives and the super-rich.
The gap between rich and poor is expected to widen, and the world is predicted to see its first trillionaire within the next decade. However, if current trends continue, it could take another 229 years to eradicate world poverty.
The report, titled “Inequality Inc.”, highlights a dramatic increase in inequality since the Covid pandemic. It states that the world’s billionaires are now $3.3tn (£2.6tn) richer than in 2020, and their wealth has grown three times faster than the rate of inflation.
Despite the stagnation in living standards for millions of workers worldwide, Wealth X’s research reveals that seven out of ten of the largest corporations in the world have a billionaire as CEO or principal shareholder.
The combined wealth of the top five richest people in the world – Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Mark Zuckerberg – has risen by $464bn, or 114%. Over the same period, the total wealth of the poorest 4.77 billion people – 60% of the world’s population – has declined by 0.2% in real terms.
The report states that workers worldwide are working longer hours for poverty wages in precarious and unsafe jobs. Average real wages of nearly 800 million workers across 52 countries have fallen, with these workers losing a combined $1.5tn over the past two years, equivalent to 25 days of lost wages for each worker.
The Looming Threat of the World’s First Trillionaire Amid Rising Poverty
Meanwhile, business profits have risen sharply despite pressure on households amid the cost of living crisis. In total, 148 of the world’s largest corporations raked in $1.8tn in total net profits in the year to June 2023, a 52% jump compared with average net profits in 2018-21.
The report calls for a wealth tax to redress the balance between workers and super-rich company bosses and owners. It suggests that such a levy on British millionaires and billionaires could bring in £22bn for the exchequer each year if applied at a rate of 1% to 2% on net wealth above £10m.
Julia Davies, an investor and founding member of Patriotic Millionaires UK, a nonpartisan group of British millionaires campaigning for a wealth tax, said levies on wealth were “minuscule” compared with taxation on income from work.
The report finds that the most recent Gini index, which measures inequality, shows that global income inequality is now comparable with South Africa, the country with the highest inequality globally. The world’s richest 1% own 59% of all global financial assets, including stocks, shares, bonds, and stakes in privately held businesses. In the UK, the richest 1% own 36.5% of all financial assets, valued at £1.8tn.
Aleema Shivji, Oxfam’s interim chief executive, said that “These extremes cannot be accepted as the new norm, the world can’t afford another decade of division. Extreme poverty in the poorest countries is still higher than it was pre-pandemic, yet a small number of super-rich men are racing to become the world’s first trillionaire within the next 10 years.
This ever-widening gap between the rich and the rest isn’t accidental, nor is it inevitable. Governments worldwide are making deliberate political choices that enable and encourage this distorted concentration of wealth. A fairer economy is possible, one that works for us all. What’s needed are concerted policies that deliver fairer taxation and support for everyone, not just the privileged.”
Read more: Apple Vision Pro Set to Elevate Performance with Advanced M2 Chipset and Enhanced GPU Cores
