The combined wealth of these billionaires grew by 44.6% during the pandemic.
While the world battled with the unfortunate Covid 19 pandemic, American billionaires added a mouthwatering $1.3trn to their collective wealth according to Business Insider.
During the same period, 80 million Americans lost their jobs and were living off government stimulus package made available by Donald Trump and Joe Biden administrations.
The disparity between the “Haves” and the “Have not’s” in American society has been the subject of debate for decades. Reports like this will add more steam to the inequality debate in America.
The above study and research were carried out by Americans for Tax Fairness (ATF) and the Institute for Policy Studies (IPS). They made use of information obtained from Forbes.
- According to the study, from the period of March 2020 to February 2021, 80 million Americans lost their jobs
- The Study also stipulated that from June 2020 to November 2020 about 8 million Americans drifted into poverty.
- The Biggest earners of the pandemic were Google’s Sergey Brian and Larry Page who added $11.8bn and $11.4bn to their wealth respectively.
- Warren Buffet the investment Icon and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway was also a big earner during the pandemic. He added a whopping $7.4bn to his net worth, according to Bloomberg.
- The 2020 pandemic year also witnessed America add 43 new billionaires to its rank as a couple of companies went IPO during the lockdown.
- Alexandria Osacrio Cortez is one of the foremost US politicians leading the charge against Inequality in the US. Her major solution to this challenge is to Tax the rich heavily.
- President Joe Biden intends to raise the percentage of tax paid by America’s wealthiest to 40%.
