The world’s 500 richest people added approximately $ 1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, bringing them a total net worth of $ 7.6 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index.
Bloomberg He noted that the 31 percent increase, which occurred even in the midst of the economic crisis caused by the coronavirus pandemic, is the largest annual gain in the index’s eight-year history.
Growth reached mainly the highest situations, where five people now have more than $ 100 billion, with 20 more people worth $ 50 billion each.
At the top of the Bloomberg index is the founder and CEO of Amazon Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey (Jeff) Preston Bezos: Amazon delivered more than 1.5 billion articles during the Washington Post holiday season to add more than 150 jobs next year, achieving record-breaking writing Philanthropist MacKenzie Scott has donated more than a billion in the last 4 months MORE with approximately $ 190 billion. The tech company made a big profit in the midst of the pandemic, when blockages and health restrictions forced more people to resort to online shopping.
Founder and CEO of Tesla Elon Musk
Elon Reeve MuskTrump ends Obama’s 12-year career as the most admired man: Gallup CEO Apple ignored the meeting request to discuss the sale of Tesla, Musk said NASA selects next Artemis moonwalkers while SpaceX flies with a MORE ship experienced the largest increase in wealth in 2020, which Bloomberg reported was potentially the fastest wealth creation in history.
Now worth $ 170 billion, Musk surpasses Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates for the first time for the title of second richest person in the world in November.
The increase in Musk’s wealth was driven largely by Tesla, which as of Saturday has a market value of about $ 670 billion. About three-quarters of Musk’s net worth is made up of Tesla shares.
Bloomberg reported that, combined, Bezos and Musk had a $ 217 billion increase in wealth in 12 months, which is roughly enough to send $ 2,000 checks to more than 100 million Americans.
The rise of the Tesla founder was the second time in the history of the index that Gates was not considered one of the two richest people in the world.
Gates now ranks third with a total net worth of about $ 132 billion, while Bernard Arnault, LVMH president and CEO Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton, ranks fourth with $ 114 billion.
Founder and CEO of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Elliot ZuckerbergSelena Gomez criticizes Facebook for misinformation of COVID-19: “Will be responsible for thousands of deaths” Facebook dispute with Apple increases Hillicon Valley: lawmakers call for action after “devastating” cyberattack on federal government | US cyber agency issues emergency directives after hackers | FTC opens privacy study on major Internet MORE platforms is the fifth richest person in the world with a net worth of about $ 104 billion.
According to Chuck Collins, director of the Institute for Policy Studies’s Inequality and Common Good Program, the growth of the world’s best billionaires “strikes a painful nerve for the millions of people who have lost loved ones and experienced declines in their health, wealth and livelihood “.
“Even worse, it undermines the feeling that we are‘ in this together, ’the solidarity needed to endure the difficult months,” Collins told Bloomberg.
As of Saturday, more than 84 million people worldwide had been infected with COVID-19, with more than 1.8 million deaths as a result of the virus, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.