Following the World Economic Forum in Davos – actually a camp of superrich for mockery over the poorest – Oxfam has issued a fascinating new report on growing gap between rich and poor.
In the year 2015, richest 62 people have owned as much as poorest half of world’s population – Report
In 2016 only 8 (yes, eight!) people owned as much as poorest half of world's population! Those eight are:
Microsoft founder, Bill Gates, $75 bn.
Inditex clothing company founder, Amancio Ortega, $67 bn.
Berkshire Hathaway investor, Warren Buffett, $60.8 bn.
Mexican business magnate Carlos Slim $50 bn.
Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, $45.2 bn.
Facebook co-founder Mark Zuckerberg, $44.6 bn.
Oracle’s Larry Ellison, $43.6 bn.
and former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, $40 bn.
Total = $426,2 bn.
Oxfam calculations using wealth of the richest individuals from Forbes Billionaires listing and wealth of the bottom 50% from Credit Suisse Global Wealth Databook 2016.
Here you can download and read the Full report
The richest are accumulating wealth at such an astonishing rate that the world could see its first trillionaire in just 25 years. So, you would need to spend $1 million every day for 2738 years to spend $1 trillion.
From the historic point of view, after such monstrous rise of inequality, always comes crash.
Sources and reports:
www.oxfam.org – 5 shocking facts
Oxfam blog – 5 questions you asked about inequality
CTV News: Oxfam – 8 billionaires as rich as half of world combined (Jan. 16th 2017)
AFP: Richest 1% own more than the rest of us: Oxfam (Jan. 18th 2016)
RT: 8 richest people as wealthy as poorest half of the world – Oxfam