So much wealth has accumulated among the world’s richest that the 62 wealthiest people on the planet now own more than the poorest 3.6 billion people, or half the planet, according to research published by Oxfam, an anti-poverty charity. Wealth of richest 1% equal to other 99%.
That ratio has become a good deal more skewed recently. In 2010, it required the richest 388 people to make up the wealth of the bottom 50%. Since then, Oxfam says, the world’s richest 62 people have added 44% to their cash and assets, while the wealth of the bottom half has dropped by 41%.
“Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being sucked upwards at an alarming rate,” Oxfam said in the report, “An Economy For The 1%” (pdf). “Once there, an ever more elaborate system of tax havens and an industry of wealth managers ensure that it stays there, far from the reach of ordinary citizens and their governments.”
The charity released the report one day ahead of the start of the World Economic Forum at Davos, where some of the world’s richest and most powerful business leaders and government decision-makers will meet.
Oxfam argued that wealth inequality isn’t just a problem for those on the bottom but that it poses a threat to economic development for everyone. The number of people lifted out of absolute poverty over the past two decades has been encouraging, says the report, but had inequality not risen at the same time, as many as 200 million more people could have been lifted out of poverty over the same period. “That could have risen to 700 million had poor people benefited more than the rich from economic growth,” said the report.
By Quartz
.
#1 Bill Gates $79.2 B 60 Microsoft United States
#2 Carlos Slim Helu $77.1 B 75 telecom Mexico
#3 Warren Buffett $72.7 B 85 Berkshire Hathaway United States
#4 Amancio Ortega $64.5 B 79 Zara Spain
#5 Larry Ellison $54.3 B 71 Oracle United States
#6 Charles Koch $42.9 B 80 diversified United States
#6 David Koch $42.9 B 75 diversified United States
#8 Christy Walton $41.7 B 61 Wal-Mart United States
#9 Jim Walton $40.6 B 68 Wal-Mart United States
#10 Liliane Bettencourt $40.1 B 93 L’Oreal France
#11 Alice Walton $39.4 B 66 Wal-Mart United States
#12 S. Robson Walton $39.1 B 72 Wal-Mart United States
#13 Bernard Arnault $37.2 B 66 LVMH France
#14 Michael Bloomberg $35.5 B 73 Bloomberg LP United States
#15 Jeff Bezos $34.8 B 52 Amazon.com United States
#16 Mark Zuckerberg $33.4 B 31 Facebook United States
#17 Li Ka-shing $33.3 B 87 diversified Hong Kong
#18 Sheldon Adelson $31.4 B 82 casinos United States
#19 Larry Page $29.7 B 42 Google United States
#20 Sergey Brin $29.2 B 42 Google United States
#21 Georg Schaeffler $26.9 B 51 ball bearings Germany
#22 Forrest Mars, Jr. $26.6 B 84 candy United States
#22 Jacqueline Mars $26.6 B 76 candy United States
#22 John Mars $26.6 B 79 candy United States
#25 David Thomson $25.5 B 58 media Canada
#26 Jorge Paulo Lemann $25 B 76 beer Brazil
#27 Lee Shau Kee $24.8 B 87 real estate Hong Kong
#28 Stefan Persson $24.5 B 68 H&M Sweden
#29 George Soros $24.2 B 85 hedge funds United States
#29 Wang Jianlin $24.2 B 61 real estate China
#31 Carl Icahn $23.5 B 79 investments United States
#32 Maria Franca Fissolo $23.4 B 98 Nutella, chocolates Italy
#33 Jack Ma $22.7 B 51 e-commerce China
#34 Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud $22.6 B 60 investments Saudi Arabia
#35 Steve Ballmer $21.5 B 59 Microsoft United States
#35 Phil Knight $21.5 B 77 Nike United States
#37 Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. $21.3 B – supermarkets Germany
#38 Li Hejun $21.1 B 48 solar power equipment China
#39 Mukesh Ambani $21 B 58 petrochemicals, oil & gas India
#40 Leonardo Del Vecchio $20.4 B 80 eyeglasses Italy
#41 Len Blavatnik $20.2 B 58 diversified United States
#41 Tadashi Yanai $20.2 B 66 retail Japan
#43 Charles Ergen $20.1 B 62 Dish Network United States
#44 Dilip Shanghvi $20 B 60 pharmaceuticals India
#45 Laurene Powell Jobs $19.5 B 52 Apple, Disney United States
#46 Dieter Schwarz $19.4 B 76 retail Germany
#47 Michael Dell $19.2 B 50 Dell United States
#48 Azim Premji $19.1 B 70 software India
#49 Theo Albrecht, Jr. $19 B 65 Aldi, Trader Joe’s Germany
#50 Michael Otto $18.1 B 72 retail, real estate Germany
#51 Paul Allen $17.5 B 62 Microsoft, investments United States
#52 Joseph Safra $17.3 B 77 banking Brazil
#53 Anne Cox Chambers $17 B 96 media United States
#54 Susanne Klatten $16.8 B 53 BMW, pharmaceuticals Germany
#55 Pallonji Mistry $16.3 B 86 construction Ireland
#56 Ma Huateng $16.1 B 44 internet media China
#57 Patrick Drahi $16 B 52 Telecom France
#58 Thomas & Raymond Kwok $15.9 B – real estate Hong Kong
#59 Stefan Quandt $15.6 B 49 BMW Germany
#60 Ray Dalio $15.4 B 66 hedge funds United States
#60 Vladimir Potanin $15.4 B 55 metals Russia
#62 Serge Dassault $15.3 B 90 aviation France
#62 Robin Li $15.3 B 47 internet search China
.
