Wealth of Richest Five Men More Than Doubled Since 2020

As per a report by Oxfam, the fortunes of the world's richest five men have more than doubled since 2020. 

The "Inequality Inc." report by Oxfam revealed that these five richest men are now worth USD 869bn. Since 2020, their wealth has grown at a rate of USD 14m/hour. 

These five men are LVMH chief Bernard Arnault, Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison, Tesla CEO Elon Musk, investor Warren Buffet and Amazon's Jeff Bezos. While their wealth increased in this period, around 5 billion people in the world became poorer. 

As per Oxfam, the world may see its first trillionaire within the next 10 years. However, the chances of the eradication of poverty are nearly zero for the next two centuries. 

"We're witnessing the beginnings of a decade of division, with billions of people shouldering the economic shockwaves of pandemic, inflation and war, while billionaires' fortunes boom. This inequality is no accident; the billionaire class is ensuring corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else," Oxfam International interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar said in a statement released with the report.

"Runaway corporate and monopoly power is an inequality-generating machine: through squeezing workers, dodging tax, privatising the state, and spurring climate breakdown, corporations are funnelling endless wealth to their ultra-rich owners. But they're also funnelling power, undermining our democracies and our rights."

Oxfam also highlighted how the wealthy people have been evading paying their fair share of taxes through a lobbying "war on taxation," "starting governments of money that could be used to benefit the poorest in society." 

"We have the evidence. We know the history. Public power can rein in runaway corporate power and inequality – shaping the market to be fairer and free from billionaire control. Governments must intervene to break up monopolies, empower workers, tax these massive corporate profits and, crucially, invest in a new era of public goods and services," Behar said.