Ten billionaires reap $400bn boost to wealth during pandemic
ByRupert Neate
theguardian.com
4 min
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Jeff Bezos, founder and chief executive of Amazon has seen his wealth increase from $70bn to $185bn. Photograph: Pablo MartÃnez Monsiváis/AP
Ten of the richest people in the world have boosted their already vast wealth by more than $400bn (£296bn) since the coronavirus pandemic began as their businesses were boosted by lockdowns and financial crises across the globe.
The extra wealth accumulated by the 10 men – approximately $450bn, using Forbes figures – over the past nine months is more than the £284bn the British government is estimated to have spent on tackling the pandemic and the economic damage it has wrought on its 66 million people.
In a related report, the campaign group Americans for Tax Fairness estimates the collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires has risen by $1.1tn over the same period. Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness said:
Ten of the richest people in the world have boosted their already vast wealth by more than $400bn (£296bn) since the coronavirus pandemic began as their businesses were boosted by lockdowns and financial crises across the globe.
The extra wealth accumulated by the 10 men – approximately $450bn, using Forbes figures – over the past nine months is more than the £284bn the British government is estimated to have spent on tackling the pandemic and the economic damage it has wrought on its 66 million people.
In a related report, the campaign group Americans for Tax Fairness estimates the collective wealth of America’s 651 billionaires has risen by $1.1tn over the same period. Frank Clemente of Americans for Tax Fairness said:
“Their pandemic profits are so immense that America’s billionaires could pay for a major Covid relief bill and still not lose a dime of their pre-virus riches. Their wealth growth is so great that they alone could provide a $3,000 stimulus payment to every man, woman and child in the country, and still be richer than they were nine months ago.”
Jeff Bezos, the founder and chief executive of Amazon, has watched his wealth rocket by $70bn since March to a record $185bn as hundreds of millions of people trapped at home turned to the online delivery giant to keep themselves fed and entertained.
Other members of the super-rich elite who have seen huge financial benefits during the crisis include: Elon Musk, the maverick founder of Tesla; Bernard Arnault, the French billionaire who owns most of luxury brand portfolio LVMH; Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg; and Google’s Larry Page.
Ana Arendar, the head of Oxfam’s inequality campaign, said the fact that the richest of the rich have made so much money during the coronavirus pandemic “proves beyond a shadow of a doubt that the global economic system is not fit for purpose”.
“Allowing the wealth of a tiny few to explode while hundreds of millions suffer is nothing short of a dereliction of duty,” she said of global governments’ inaction on widening inequality.
“Extreme poverty is rising for the first time in a decade and hundreds of millions of people face dire hardship; in many cases failing into debt, skipping meals and being forced into destitution,” Arendar said. “Governments need to stop pandering to the richest. A wealth tax would barely make a difference to the fortunes of the richest but could provide a lifeline for those hit hardest by the pandemic.”
While many small businesses have been hit hard by the pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s, Amazon’s shares have increased by 90% since March.
But the Amazon founder’s gains pale in comparison to those of Elon Musk, the co-founder and chief executive of electric car company Tesla.
Musk’s fortune soared to $153bn, up from $25bn in March, as investors bet that the pandemic would lead governments to speed up the switch from internal combustion engines to electric vehicles. Musk, 49, owns 20% of Tesla and is now the world’s second-richest person, up from 35th in the global league table of billionaires back in January.
Bernard Arnault, Europe’s richest person, has seen his fortune double since the pandemic began, as demand for luxury brands in his LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton stable bounced back. Arnault’s wealth increased from $69bn in March to $148bn, to make him the third-richest person on the planet.
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Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, is another member of the super-rich whose vast fortune has expanded during the pandemic. Photograph: Britta Pedersen/AFP/Getty Images
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft turned philanthropist and the fourth-richest person, has an estimated $120bn fortune. Gates’s wealth has increased by about $20bn since March. Over the same period he has committed billions to the development of coronavirus vaccines and healthcare projects related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, a thinktank that focuses on excessive pay, said: “People perhaps fail to appreciate the vast extent of billionaire wealth. To give you some perspective, just the increase in the net worth of these 10 individuals over the past 10 months is more than the estimated amount that the UK government has spent this year fighting the health and economic consequences of the coronavirus on behalf of 66 million people.”
The other billionaires to have significantly boosted their fortunes since the pandemic began are Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who saw his wealth increase by about 80% to $100bn, investor Warren Buffett, whose fortune increased by 26% to $85bn, and Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, whose wealth swelled by 50% to $88bn. Google’s Larry Page increased his wealth by half to $76bn, his co-founder, Sergey Brin, saw a similar increase to $74bn, and Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, saw his fortune rise 47% to $75bn.
Bill Gates, co-founder of Microsoft turned philanthropist and the fourth-richest person, has an estimated $120bn fortune. Gates’s wealth has increased by about $20bn since March. Over the same period he has committed billions to the development of coronavirus vaccines and healthcare projects related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Luke Hildyard, executive director of the High Pay Centre, a thinktank that focuses on excessive pay, said: “People perhaps fail to appreciate the vast extent of billionaire wealth. To give you some perspective, just the increase in the net worth of these 10 individuals over the past 10 months is more than the estimated amount that the UK government has spent this year fighting the health and economic consequences of the coronavirus on behalf of 66 million people.”
The other billionaires to have significantly boosted their fortunes since the pandemic began are Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg, who saw his wealth increase by about 80% to $100bn, investor Warren Buffett, whose fortune increased by 26% to $85bn, and Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle, whose wealth swelled by 50% to $88bn. Google’s Larry Page increased his wealth by half to $76bn, his co-founder, Sergey Brin, saw a similar increase to $74bn, and Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex, saw his fortune rise 47% to $75bn.
Deeply depressing - yet another sign of the results of the long term free-for-all economics set loose by Thatcher and Reagan in 1980 which have largely been allowed to continue. Richard
ReplyDeleteIt is not a new knowledge that our current economic system based on the winner takes it all policy is broken. Talk of anything else is seen as socialism or even worse, communism. Sad situation is that people in the West, particularly in the US, people have been totally brainwashed and kept ignorant by the administration, irrespective of which party is in power. The worst is that the US continues to push the same broken system globally with its economic and military might.
ReplyDeleteThere are few philanthropists who contribute to the poor and destitute but the world cannot run on charities and philanthropies. The world has to and people have to sustain their livelihood on a fair and equitable system not on charity. The system can and will change only with people’s will and people’s movement but this cannot happen when people are blindfolded. The governments everywhere are promoting Human Rights. Fair enough. But what about Economic Rights and cultural Rights? Will we see serious movements during our lifetime? The solution is up to the PEOPLE.
Cheers
Ramesh
Dear Ramesh,
DeleteAnd inequality has grown -and is probably today greater in the main industrialized countries and many countries of the South, greater than ever before. I am attaching a piece that I wrote 15 years ago – which should be updated. If one brought the last 15 years into the story, I think it would show even greater inequality and even greater contrasts with the last 200 years. Richard
Dear Richard
DeleteThanks for your message and the attachment. The paper gives a good historical perspective on the issue of inequality that has persisted in our societies.
The main problem fueling the inequality in our society is the failure of leadership everywhere, in countries and in international institutions. Talking about democracy and human rights has simply become a fashion. The promotion of individual freedom and democracy has taken center stage in development rather than economic security. The Freedom House defines democracy as – freedom of speech, freedom of movement, freedom of assembly and freedom of religion. Economic security (or economic freedom) is nowhere to be seen or heard!
This is further compounded by the media which is firmly under the grip of neoliberal coterie. Few months ago, there was an article in The Economist magazine in which it claims that inequality has remained static since 1960s. Of course, everyone has his or her opinion but I see it as irresponsible on part of The Economist to provide a global forum for such an opinion.
I recall with fond memories the launching of ‘Adjustment with Human Face’ during the 1980s which led to some change in behaviour of institutions such as the World Bank and IMF. As a result, talking about inequality became a global topic for discussion. In ensuing decades, any WB report could be changed to a UNICEF report with just change in the authorship! Nevertheless, inequality continues to rise with modern technology and the indifference of leaderships everywhere. The practice of promoting the US led democratization process of giving political support to regimes it likes continues to rise authoritarians and right-wing extremism which marginalises the people in the bottom quintile.
Coming back to the day-to-day issue, the employees at the frontline in places like the garment industry in Bangladesh, Vietnam, Cambodia, or even in the US chain such as The Walmart, people are paid a basic minimum. Even if their wage is doubled it will not be even a small dent in the profit margin of the multinationals who employ them. But it is not to be.
One problem I see is that in governments and in international institutions (including the UN) there are often new priorities, new emphasis, new slogan, every time there is change in senior management. As a result, it loses tractions on ongoing interventions. I do agree that new innovations and ideas have to be given its due forum but we need not lose what is ongoing.
Sorry that this message is becoming longer than planned and of course I am not in a position to preach a convert!
The bottom line is that democracy has been hijacked by the 0.1%
Best wishes
Ramesh
Yes, Baquer. That is the world we live in. But why bring in the pandemic - if you look at the World Inequality Database, inequalities have been rising all over. It hurts more in countries like India where overall per capita incomes are so low.
ReplyDeleteTake care and stay safe, Baquer.
Om