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‘Disturbing’: These 12 people are now worth US$1 trillion
Anastasia Santoreneos 18 August 2020, 10:58 am AEST
‘Disturbing’: These 12 people are now worth US$1 trillion. Source: Getty
For the first time in US history, the combined wealth of the nation’s top 12 billionaires has surpassed US$1 trillion (AU$1.39 trillion), new data revealed.
And it’s all thanks to the Covid-19 pandemic, which saw these billionaires’ wealth soar by nearly US$300 billion, or 40 per cent, according to an Inequality.org report.
“This is a disturbing milestone in the US history of concentrated wealth and power,” co-authors Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo said.
“This is simply too much economic and political power in the hands of twelve people.” Who are these 12 people?
Amazon founder Jeff Bezos (US$189.4 billion)
Microsoft founder Bill Gates (US$114 billion)
Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg (US$95.5 billion)
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett (US$80 billion)
Tesla founder Elon Musk (US$73 billion)
Former Microsoft CEO and businessman Steve Ballmer (US$71 billion)
Business magnate and investor Larry Ellsion (US$70.9 billion)
Google co-founder Larry Page (US$67.4 billion)
Google co-founder Sergey Brin (US$65.6 billion)
Walmart heiress Alice Walton (US$62.5 billion
Walmart heir Jim Walton (US$62.3 billion)
Walmart heir Rob Walton (US$62 billion)
Pandemic profiteers
During the first stage of the pandemic, the collective wealth of these 12 billionaires actually declined by nearly US$100 billion, but this quickly turned around.
Musk was described as the biggest pandemic profiteer, after his wealth surged from US$24.6 billion on 18 March to US$73 billion on 13 August - a 197 per cent jump.
Zuckerberg saw his wealth increase by 75 per cent.
The only exception is Warren Buffett, who is still $2 billion below his March 2019 wealth, but is currently worth $80 billion.
18 August 2020, 10:58 am AEST
