The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a toll on most of us, in both health and economic aspects. The pandemic, which began making its mark globally over two years back, has on one hand taken away the lives of nearly 60 lakh people, and on the other hand rendered thousands jobless — with economies of several countries toppling under its pressure. The lockdowns and its subsequent effects have had its ripple effects on people’s wealth as many lost their jobs or had to shut down their businesses. However, this does not hold true for everyone. Charity firm Oxfam, in a report said that the pandemic has made the top 10 richest men even richer.
Wealth of World’s Top 10 Richest Doubled During Pandemic: Oxfam
Oxfam, in a report published on January 17, Monday, said that the wealth of the top 10 richest has doubled during the pandemic. “There’s been a new billionaire created almost every day during this pandemic, meanwhile 99 per cent of the world’s population are worse off because of lockdowns, lower international trade, less international tourism, and as a result of that, 160 million more people have been pushed into poverty,” Danny Sriskandarajah, Oxfam GB’s chief executive, said.
In its policy paper titled “Inequality Kills”, the charity organisation said, “The wealth of the world’s 10 richest men has doubled since the pandemic began. The incomes of 99 per cent of humanity are worse off because of Covid-19. Widening economic, gender, and racial inequalities—as well as the inequality that exists between countries—are tearing our world apart.”
“We can claw back extreme wealth through progressive taxation; invest in powerful, proven inequality-busting public measures; and boldly shift power in the economy and society,” the report further said.
“If we are courageous, and listen to the movements demanding change, we can create an economy in which nobody lives in poverty, nor with unimaginable billionaire wealth—in which inequality no longer kills,” it added.
Who are the Top 10 Richest People of the World?
According to the Forbe’s rich list, the top 10 rich individuals in the world are — Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk, Amazon chief Jeff Bezos, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, former Microsoft CEOs Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, former Oracle CEO Larry Ellison, investor Warren Buffet of the US and the head of the French luxury group LVMH, Bernard Arnault.
The top 10 rich people’s wealth collectively grew from $700 billion to $1.5 trillion amid the Covid-19 pandemic. Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk emerged as the clear winner. The billionaire philanthropist’s wealth grew by a whopping 1,000 per cent during this period and rose to 304.2 billion recently as he added $33.8 billion in a single day on January 4. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos followed him to take the second lead, but is worth $188 billion as of Monday, January 17.
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