Wealth of the Super-Rich Sees $2 Trillion Increase: Oxfam Report

Most of the growth in billionaire wealth has increased the share value of the global stock exchange, though increasing property values have also contributed.

Research by Oxfam found that the wealth of the world’s billionaires increased by $2 trillion (£1.64 trillion) last year. It is three times faster than in 2023 and amounts to $5.7 billion (£4.7 billion) daily.

In contrast to last year’s prediction of having one trillionaire within 10 years, the most recent study on inequality shows that the world is on track to have five trillionaires within 10 years.

The Oxfam report called Takers Not Makers released as many of the world’s political leaders, business executives, and ultra-rich people traveled to the Swiss ski town of Davos for the annual World Economic Forum meeting starting Monday.

Donald Trump‘s inauguration as the US President coincided with the same time as Oxfam released its analysis of billionaire assets. He is expected to provide significant tax benefits for the wealthiest US citizens and appoint several billionaires to his inner circle of advisors, including Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX.

At the same time, Oxfam said that about 3.6 billion people, or 44$ of the world’s present population, live below the poverty threshold of $6.85 per day set by the World Bank, which has not changed since 1990. It shows that 24.3 million more women than males live in extreme poverty, with one in ten women living below $2.15 per day.

Oxfam cautioned that efforts to reduce poverty have become stagnant and that reducing inequality could eliminate extreme poverty three times faster.

With wealth growing by £35 million every day to £182 billion in 2024, the UK has become the highest percentage of billionaire wealth among G& countries. The UK has 57 billionaires, with an additional four added last year. These include Jim Thompson, founder of a moving company called Crown Worldwide; Donald Mackenzie, a Scottish businessman who co-founded the private equity firm CVC Capital Partners; Sunder Genomal, founder of the Bangalore-based clothing company called Page Industries; and Mark Dixon, who runs the flexible office provider, International Workplace Group plc(IWG).

Most of the growth in billionaire wealth has increased the share value of the global stock exchange, though increasing property values have also contributed. Around 80% of the global investments are in residential real estate.

Last year, there were 2769 billionaires globally, an increase of 204. Their wealth increased from $13 to $15 trillion in just a year, the second-largest annual gain since statistics began. Even if the ten wealthiest men lost 99% of their wealth, they would still be billionaires since overall wealth increased by about $100 million daily on average.

One of them is Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon, with a net worth of $219.4 billion. 70% of Germany, France, the UK, and Spain buy online through his Amazon empire. A survey reports that Aliko Dangote, with a net worth of $11 billion, is the wealthiest person in Africa. He has a near monopoly on cement in Nigeria and dominates the African market.

The reports claim that most money is ‘stolen’ rather than ‘earned’ as 60% of their wealth comes from monopoly power, cronyism, corruption, or inheritance. According to its calculations, monopoly power provides 18% of their wealth.

According to Forbes, the wealthiest people in the world are Musk, Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook and Meta, Larry Ellison, the co-founder of Oracle, and Bernard Arnault, the founder of Louis Vuitton-Moët-Hennessy (LVMH). Musk, Bezos, and Zuckerberg are expected to sit near each other during Trump’s inauguration, which is a sign that tech companies have a growing influence on politics.

Oxfam advocates for bold alternatives to reduce inequality and ingrain justice in our economies.

Anna Marriot, Oxfam lead on inequality policy, states that the world is headed for having at least five trillionaires within ten years, which is a shocking increase in wealth despite the prediction of the first one appearing within ten years, even though over half of the population still lives in poverty.

She urged the UK government to take economic measures to reduce inequality by raising taxes on rich people.

She added that huge funds can be raised through this, which helps to tackle inequality in the UK and abroad and fund essential public services.

Due to the G20 agreement to tax the world super-rich for the first time, there is momentum to implement equitable taxation globally.