- Wealth inequality means that billionaires are growing at an unprecedented rate
With each passing week in 2024 almost four new members joined the growing class of the ultra-rich, according to a recent report by anti-poverty advocacy firm Oxfam. The richest individuals in the world are doing a victory lap after last year, as billionaire wealth increased three times faster in 2024 than it did in 2023.
In total, billionaire wealth skyrocketed by $2 trillion, adding more than 200 individuals to this cohort. The accumulation of riches at the very top is going so unchecked that Oxfam estimates there will be five trillionaires within the coming decade.
But nothing all that golden is minting these new wealthy individuals.“Most billionaire wealth is taken, not earned, 60% comes from either inheritance, cronyism and corruption or monopoly power,” Oxfam writes in the report.
Inheritance, lobbying, and monopolies
Wealthy families are passing down trillions of dollars in wealth per year, creating “a new aristocratic oligarchy that has immense power in our politics and our economy,” according to Oxfam, which adds that more than a third (36%) of billionaire wealth comes from family money.,
The ultra-wealthy are wielding a tight fist on their fortunes, keeping the ever-ballooning riches in the family. In the coming thirty years more than a thousand of the current billionaires will transfer more than $5.2 trillion to their heirs, writes Oxfam. Much of this transfer will go “largely untaxed,” the nonprofit writes. Two-thirds of countries studied in the report don’t tax inheritance to direct descendents.
Beyond nepotism, the report finds that cronyism is a major driver of wealth. Cronyism refers to the bankrolling and backing of friends, especially when it comes to the appointments and lobbying of a political system. Oxfam estimates that 6% of the ultra-wealthy riches are from “crony sources,” while countries with lax regulations tend to produce more billionaires
Lastly, billionaires have maintained their winning streak by the power of unmitigated monopolies. Calling out Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’ domain of online purchases in many countries and Aliko Dangote’s hold on cement in Nigeria, Oxfam says that about 18% of billionaires’ wealth comes from said sole ownership.
Trump’s impact on wealth-inequality
In his farewell address, President Biden warned of a “oligarchy,” which threatened the fabric of democracy. Indeed, the total net worth of the 100 wealthiest citizens soared by $1.5 trillion from 2021 until 2024, per Bloomberg.
“The election of Donald Trump as U.S. President in November gave a huge further boost to billionaire fortunes, while his policies – such as gigantic tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy and corporations – are set to fan the flames of inequality further,” writes Oxfam.
A number of the world’s richest men flanked President Trump during his inauguration, including Amazon’s Jeff Bezos, Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, and Tesla’s Elon Musk. It wasn’t just Silicon Valley CEOs who showed their support. LVMH’s chief Bernard Arnault and his family were in attendance as well as India’s richest man Mukesh Ambani. The collective worth of said billionaires attending reached a whopping $1.35 trillion, according to Forbes. The individual wealth of the richest 10 men in the world increased last year by almost $100 million on an average day, per Oxfam.
“When the 3 wealthiest men in America sit behind Trump at his inauguration, everyone understands that the billionaire class now controls our government,” tweeted Senator Bernie Sanders of what he deemed an oligarchy. “We must fight back,” he wrote.
