The wealth of billionaires increases by $2 trillion

Billionaire fortunes will rise in 2024, with the world’s richest people increasingly benefiting from inheritances and powerful relationships, according to Oxfam’s latest annual inequality report.

The global charity said on Sunday that the total wealth of the world’s richest people rose from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just 12 months. This represents the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since Oxfam records began.

Meanwhile, the charity said, citing World Bank data, that the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990. The data showed that the richest 1% of people own nearly 45% of total wealth, while 44% of Humanity is below the poverty line set by the World Bank, which is $6.85 per day.

With the wealth of the world’s richest people accelerating faster than previously expected, Oxfam now expects to see at least five trillionaires within a decade.

“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached previously unimaginable heights,” said Amitabh Behar, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

“Failure to stop the billionaires is now creating soon-to-be billionaires,” he said. “Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated — by a factor of three — but their power has accelerated as well.”

The report highlights an increase in “undeserved wealth,” explaining that 60% of billionaires’ wealth now comes from inheritance, monopoly, or the power of “patronage relationships.”

Oxfam’s report, entitled “Takers, Not Makers,” comes with the return of billionaire Donald Trump to the White House and the preparation of 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries to participate in the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla And a close ally of Trump On the right track To become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a report by Informa Connect Academy. He is currently worth approximately $440 billion Bloomberg Billionaires Index Pointing.

Outgoing US President Joe Biden this week to caution About the rise of “the oligarchy that is forming in America with enormous wealth, power, and influence.”

“People should be able to make as much money as possible, but they have to pay — and play by the same rules, and pay their fair share of taxes,” Biden said in his farewell speech.

Oxfam is urging governments to commit to ensuring that the income of the top 10% is not higher than that of the bottom 40% around the world. According to the charity, global economic rules should be modified to allow for the break-up of monopolies, and more corporate regulation and global tax policies should be adapted to ensure the rich pay their fair share.

Oxfam’s Behar said money flowing into the bank accounts of the wealthy instead of much-needed investment in teachers and medicines “is not just bad for the economy, it’s bad for humanity.”

“Many so-called ‘self-made’ are in fact heirs to vast fortunes, passed down through generations of unearned privilege. Billions of untaxed dollars in inheritance are an affront to justice, and perpetuate a new aristocracy in which wealth and power remain restricted. In the hands of a few.”