The coronavirus has reportedly increased the total billionaire wealth now reaching the highest it has ever been. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, the total growth over a quarter for billionaires around the world has finally hit the $10 trillion which has never been done before.
The landmark actually co-insides with just another record of the world's first $200 billion mark. Jeff Bezos, owner of Amazon, reportedly reached the benchmark of $200 billion back in August when both UBS and the PwC were finally tallying up the given data for its billionaires annual report.
The combined growth of billionaires' wealth
A report that was released last Wednesday on October 7 shows the collective wealth of billionaires growing at the fastest rate ever recorded in history. Between both April and July alone, billionaires' wealth has grown by 27% starting at $8 trillion in the start of April. This was reportedly made possible largely due to the government stimulus packages.
Over half of both the stocks and the shares owned by certain American households are actually held by the 1% richest individuals according to a research done by Goldman Sachs GS back in February. As the markets continue to rise just like they have previously done so back in March, the wealthiest individuals are now seeing the biggest gains ever.
How did the coronavirus affect these billionaires?
The CARES Act which is a coronavirus relief package has only improved the standing of those gains. A particular loophole found in March's legislation actually allowed millionaires to be able to benefit from around $1.7 million coming from the government. A total of about 133 large companies have been able to receive $5 billion coming from the United States Treasury Department.
Over in the UK, the known government stimulus packages are actually worth over £16 billion or about $20.6 billion USD and they have all gone directly into different billionaire-owned companies according to data released back in June. According to billionaire Melinda Gates, the pandemic has definitely magnified the existing inequalities found in the society. The statement was given during the launching of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation's very own Goalkeepers Report some time last month.
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Biggest donations ever recorded
The UBS and PwC have also reported that the biggest gains also resulted in the biggest donations ever seen throughout history. Even the whole $7.2 billion in different COVID-19 donations that both the UBS and the PwC have attributed to 209 different billionaires only represents just 0.3% of the whole total billionaire wealth that was gained during this same period.
According to an article by Forbes, these statistics will only result in two things, billionaires donating more with their money or for governments to be pressured into considering a wealth tax.
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This article is owned by Tech Times
Written by Urian Buenconsejo
