How Elon Musk and the Worlds 500 Richest People Have Become So Rich
There are a handful of reasons why billionaires have become so rich. Perhaps the biggest one is that the worlds 500 richest people have been investing in new products and services over the last few years. This has increased their wealth, even if the amount of money they own has decreased in recent years.
U.S. billionaire wealth has increased by 15% since the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic
The wealth of America’s billionaires has increased by more than $1 trillion since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, the nation’s 704 billionaires have a combined fortune of $4.6 trillion, one-third more than the net worth of the bottom half of the population.
In the 14 years since the beginning of the pandemic, the United States has lost over 158,000 people. It has also created a deep recession and inflation, costing millions of American lives.
While the average person’s income has decreased by a small percentage, the number of Americans working has dropped by almost 89 million. This has resulted in a substantial increase in unemployment.
Although this is not a new development, the COVID-19 crisis has exacerbated the disparity between the wealthy and the rest of the nation. This was especially true for the top 10 billionaires who collectively saw their fortunes rise by more than $10 billion.
Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg’s combined fortunes grew by $101.7 billion
Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg are among the five richest Americans with combined fortunes of over a quarter of a trillion dollars. Their wealth has jumped $60 billion over the last two months, according to new data released by the Institute for Policy Studies.
The study analyzed data from Forbes magazine. It found that the combined assets of the country’s wealthiest 643 people reached $3.584 trillion in April. These figures represent a 29% increase in wealth.
In the past 10 months, America’s richest billionaires have seen their fortunes soar by an estimated $637 billion. More than four times as much as the average growth rate of all the other Americans, who saw their net worth climb by just 15%.
While the economy is in the midst of its worst crisis in recent history, the wealth of America’s billionaires has increased to almost $3 trillion, despite the economic turmoil. As a result, billionaires have become a growing symbol of extreme inequality in American society.
Democrats want to raise taxes on billionaires to offset infrastructure spending
President Joe Biden’s “Build Back Better” agenda calls for raising about $3.6 trillion in revenue from the richest Americans. To pay for this, Democrats want to raise taxes on billionaires. While there’s little certainty that these new measures will actually happen, they haven’t been entirely rejected.
In the Senate, Chairman Ron Wyden floated a bill that would tax unrealized gains on certain assets. However, it may not have the legal standing to pass.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has also voiced doubts about the proposal. She said decisions were still being made on revenue provisions. It isn’t known how much it could raise or how it would be administered.
There’s been a lot of debate on the issue, especially among moderate Democrats. They worry about the costs. Others, like Vice President Joe Biden, have favored the tax. But the Congressional Budget Office has not yet released its analysis.
Phil Knight has nearly doubled his fortune from $29.5 billion to almost $58 billion
Phil Knight, co-founder of Nike, has become a veritable jack of all trades. He’s made more money from sports than just about anyone. His contribution to the company brings his total to almost $58 billion.
The shoe company has been around for a while, but it’s only recently climbed the corporate ladder to the glitzy heights of a global conglomerate. In fact, Knight and his partner Bill Bowerman began the company as Blue Ribbon Sports, a sports marketing and management outfit.
The company’s revenue grew from $550 million in the 1996 fiscal year to over $45 billion today. They have a truly international footprint.
The company has gotten a little risque with its sponsorship of Tiger Woods’ “coming out” party. But, in spite of the controversy, Nike is a worthy contender in the athletic apparel space.
Global billionaire wealth has fallen by a whopping $1.4 trillion in 2022
According to the latest Bloomberg Billionaires Index, global billionaire wealth has declined by a whopping $1.4 trillion in the first six months of the year. That’s the largest drop on record for this category.
The decline came in spite of a year in which the top ten richest men saw a combined $400 billion surge. Mark Zuckerberg and Eric Yuan Zheng were the only two of them to increase their wealth, while the others largely lost their fortunes.
Some of the biggest loses were in China and Russia. Amid the ongoing war between Russia and Ukraine, the Russian rouble collapsed and its stock market sunk. Sanctions also hampered share markets.
Another huge drop was experienced in the US. Elon Musk, who is considered one of the richest people in the world, suffered the worst drop in fortunes of anyone in the group. His fortune dropped by $26 billion in January, while his company, Tesla, issued a supply-chain alert. He also donated shares worth US$5.7bn to charity.
