READ: Elon Musk ends 2021 as the richest person in the world
The world’s 10 richest people more than doubled their collective fortunes to $1.5 trillion, from $700 billion, during the first two years of the Covid-19 pandemic even as the number of people living in poverty increased, charity Oxfam has said.
Their wealth increased at a rate of $15,000 per second or $1.3bn a day during the pandemic while the incomes of 99 per cent of the world's population declined and more than 160 million more people were forced into poverty, Oxfam reported, citing Forbes data.
The report was released before the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
Inequality is contributing to the death of at least 21,000 people each day, or one person every four seconds, Oxfam said.
The world’s richest people are Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault, Bill Gates, Larry Ellison, Larry Page, Sergey Brin, Mark Zuckerberg, Steve Ballmer and Warren Buffett, the charity said, citing Forbes.
“If these 10 men were to lose 99.999 per cent of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 per cent of all the people on this planet,” said Gabriela Bucher, executive director of Oxfam International.
“They now have six times more wealth than the poorest 3.1 billion people. It has never been so important to start righting the violent wrongs of this obscene inequality by clawing back elites’ power and extreme wealth including through taxation – getting that money back into the real economy and to save lives.”
More people around the world became millionaires for the first time in 2020 despite the economic damage caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, according to a report last year by Credit Suisse.
The number of millionaires grew by 5.2 million to 56.1 million in 2020, the first time in history that more than 1 per cent of all adults worldwide are, in nominal terms, dollar millionaires.
The sharp increase in wealth accumulation was driven by a rise in stock and housing prices, according to the Swiss bank.
If these 10 men were to lose 99.999 per cent of their wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99 per cent of all the people on this planet
Gabriela Bucher,
executive director of Oxfam International
The wealth of billionaires surged to $5tn and has increased the most since Covid-19 began than it has in the past 14 years, according to Oxfam.
“Billionaires have had a terrific pandemic. Central banks pumped trillions of dollars into financial markets to save the economy, yet much of that has ended up lining the pockets of billionaires riding a stock market boom,” Ms Bucher said.
Hunger, gender-based violence, climate change and a lack of access to health care contributed to one death every four seconds during the pandemic, according to Oxfam.
A one-off 99 per cent tax on the pandemic windfalls of the 10 richest people could pay to make enough vaccines for the world, provide universal health care and social protection, while “still leaving these men $8bn better off than they were before the pandemic”, Oxfam said in the report.
Elon Musk, the world’s richest man with a net worth of $269bn, said in November that he would sell his Tesla stock to end world hunger if the United Nations can provide evidence showing it could solve the crisis and how the money will be spent. His net worth was $311bn at the time.
The Covid-19 pandemic also reversed gender parity gains, with women collectively losing $800bn in earnings in 2020 and 13 million fewer women in work now than there were in 2019, Oxfam said.
Inequality between countries is also expected to increase for the first time in a generation, according to Oxfam.
“Developing countries have been forced to slash social spending as their debt levels spiral and now face the prospect of austerity measures. The proportion of people with Covid-19 who die from the virus in developing countries is roughly double that in rich countries,” the non-profit said.
Governments must urgently claw back the gains made by billionaires by taxing this new wealth made since the start of the pandemic through permanent wealth and capital taxes, Oxfam suggested.
“Invest the trillions that could be raised by these taxes toward progressive spending on universal health care and social protection, climate change adaptation and gender-based violence prevention and programming,” it said.
Who are the richest men in the world?
- Elon Musk
- Jeff Bezos
- Bernard Arnault
- Bill Gates
- Larry Ellison
- Larry Page
- Sergey Brin
- Mark Zuckerberg
- Steve Ballmer
- Warren Buffett
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
The specs
Engine: 1.5-litre turbo
Power: 181hp
Torque: 230Nm
Transmission: 6-speed automatic
Starting price: Dh79,000
On sale: Now
How will Gen Alpha invest?
Mark Chahwan, co-founder and chief executive of robo-advisory firm Sarwa, forecasts that Generation Alpha (born between 2010 and 2024) will start investing in their teenage years and therefore benefit from compound interest.
“Technology and education should be the main drivers to make this happen, whether it’s investing in a few clicks or their schools/parents stepping up their personal finance education skills,” he adds.
Mr Chahwan says younger generations have a higher capacity to take on risk, but for some their appetite can be more cautious because they are investing for the first time. “Schools still do not teach personal finance and stock market investing, so a lot of the learning journey can feel daunting and intimidating,” he says.
He advises millennials to not always start with an aggressive portfolio even if they can afford to take risks. “We always advise to work your way up to your risk capacity, that way you experience volatility and get used to it. Given the higher risk capacity for the younger generations, stocks are a favourite,” says Mr Chahwan.
Highlighting the role technology has played in encouraging millennials and Gen Z to invest, he says: “They were often excluded, but with lower account minimums ... a customer with $1,000 [Dh3,672] in their account has their money working for them just as hard as the portfolio of a high get-worth individual.”
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
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76 nations
26 UAE teams
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- Priority access to new homes from participating developers
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- Mortgages with better interest rates, faster approval times and reduced fees
- DLD registration fee can be paid through banks or credit cards at zero interest rates
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ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
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The bio
Job: Coder, website designer and chief executive, Trinet solutions
School: Year 8 pupil at Elite English School in Abu Hail, Deira
Role Models: Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk
Dream City: San Francisco
Hometown: Dubai
City of birth: Thiruvilla, Kerala