[ "Surging billionaire wealth hits a painful nerve for the
millions of people who have lost loved ones and experienced declines
in their health, wealth, and livelihoods."] [[link removed]]

500 RICHEST PEOPLE ADDED $1.8 TRILLION TO COMBINED WEALTH IN 2020  
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Julia Conley

Common Dreams
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_ "Surging billionaire wealth hits a painful nerve for the millions
of people who have lost loved ones and experienced declines in their
health, wealth, and livelihoods." _

Tesla CEO Elon Musk saw the greatest increase in personal wealth in
2020—reported to be the fastest wealth creation in history,
according to Bloomberg., Kevork Djansezian/Getty Images

 

_Bloomberg_'s year-end report on the wealth of the world's
billionaires shows that the richest 500 people on the planet added
$1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, accumulating a total
net worth of $7.6 trillion. 

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index
[[link removed]]recorded its largest annual
gain in the list's history last year, with a 31% increase in the
wealth of the richest people.

The historic hoarding of wealth came as the world confronted the
coronavirus pandemic and its corresponding economic crisis, which the
United Nations last month warned is a "tipping point"
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set to send more than 207 million additional people into extreme
poverty in the next decade—bringing the number of people living in
extreme poverty to one billion by 2030. 

Even in the richest country in the world, the United States, the
rapidly widening gap between the richest and poorest people grew
especially stark in 2020.

As Dan Price, an entrepreneur and advocate for fair wages, tweeted,
the 500 richest people in the world amassed as much wealth in 2020 as
"the poorest 165 million Americans have earned in their entire lives."

The 500 wealthiest people got almost $2 trillion richer in the
pandemic, which is what the poorest 165 million Americans have earned
in their entire lives, combined

And those 500 pay the lowest tax rate of any group in the
countryhttps://t.co/WNaTgVkynA [[link removed]]

— Dan Price (@DanPriceSeattle) January 2, 2021
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Nine of the top 10 richest people in the world live in the United
States and own more than $1.5 trillion. Meanwhile, with more than half
of U.S. adults living in households that lost income due to the
pandemic, nearly 26 million Americans reported having insufficient
food and other groceries in November—contributing
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to a rise in shop-lifting of essential goods including diapers and
baby formula. About 12 million renters were expected to owe
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$6,000 in back rent after the new year. 

Tesla CEO Elon Musk enjoyed an historic growth in wealth last year,
becoming the second richest person in the world and knocking Microsoft
co-founder Bill Gates down to third place. Musk's total net worth grew
by $142 billion in 2020, to $170 billion—the fastest creation of
personal wealth in history, according to
[[link removed]]_Bloomberg. _

Amazon founder Jeff Bezos is at the top of the list, with a net worth
of $190 billion. Bezos added more than $75 billion to his wealth in
2020, as the public grew dependent on online shopping due to Covid-19
restrictions and concern for public health. 

While Bezos and a select few others in the U.S. have amassed historic
gains in personal wealth in the last year, the federal government has
yet to extend much in the way of meaningful assistance to struggling
Americans. The Republican-led Senate on Friday continued to stonewall
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vote on legislation that would send $2,000 checks to many American
households.

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) denounced the proposal
as "socialism for rich people" even though the plan includes a
phaseout structure and individuals making only up to $115,000 per year
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those in the highest tax brackets
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receive checks. 

"Surging billionaire wealth hits a painful nerve for the millions of
people who have lost loved ones and experienced declines in their
health, wealth, and livelihoods," Chuck Collins, director of the
Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy
Studies, told
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_Bloomberg_ this week. "Worse, it undermines any sense that we are 'in
this together'—the solidarity required to weather the difficult
months ahead." 

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