With wealth inequality being a hot topic of debate this year, the world’s 500 wealthiest people added another $1.2 trillion to their bank accounts, boosting their collective net worth 25% to $5.9 trillion in 2019, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
In the U.S. alone, the richest 0.1% currently hold more wealth than at any time since 1929, fueling a rebirth in the popularity of socialism and communism among ultra-progressives and even into the mainstream with candidates like Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., and Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass, topping the polls in a crowded Democratic primary field.
“The hoarding of wealth by the few is coming at the cost of peoples’ lives,” Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, herself a Democratic Socialist, wrote in a tweet earlier this month in regard to the then-ongoing election in the U.K.
Of course, the socialist opposition leader in Great Britain backed by Ocasio-Cortez, Jeremy Corbyn, was soundly defeated by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, even as Corbyn attacked billionaires and called to “rewrite the rules of our economy.”
Take that, socialism.
France’s Bernard Arnault led the rich-getting-richer charge in 2019, adding $36.5 billion to his wealth to become the world’s third-richest person, according to the Bloomberg index, and just the third “centibillionaire,” or someone whose wealth exceeds $100 billion.
The world’s 3 richest people in 2019 have added a total of $231 billion to their fortune over the past decade, according to @wealth.
Here’s how they got here pic.twitter.com/LCvbEXw2Sr
— QuickTake by Bloomberg (@QuickTake) December 26, 2019
Just 52 of the 500 wealthiest people saw their assets shrink in 2019, including Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos, whose massive wealth dipped $9 billion due to his divorce settlement with former wife Mackenzie Bezos.
But let’s not shed any tears for Mr. Bezos, as he remains the world’s richest person after Amazon shares jumped more than 4% Thursday of last week on reports of another “record breaking” holiday shopping season, with “tens of millions” of Amazon devices sold (Santa brought yours truly an Amazon Fire HD 8 tablet for Christmas).
According to Bloomberg, 172 U.S. billionaires added a cool $500 billion to their fortunes, including Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg rising $27.3 billion and Microsoft CEO Bill Gates adding $22.7 billion.
Rupert Murdoch was one of the biggest losers in the U.S. as his fortune dipped about $10 billion after proceeds from Disney’s purchase of Fox’s assets. Proceeds of the sale were distributed to Murdoch’s six children instead of himself, making each of them billionaires.