The world could witness its first trillionaire in the next decade, shedding light on the current wealth disparities, especially within the top 1%. Oxfam International recently released its annual assessment of global inequalities, emphasising the exponential growth of the wealth gap during the COVID-19 pandemic. Image Credit: Reuters
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Oxfam's report highlighted a substantial increase in the fortunes of the world's five wealthiest individuals—Elon Musk of Tesla, Bernard Arnault and his family from LVMH, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Larry Ellison of Oracle, and Warren Buffett. Their net worths more than doubled between 2020 and November 2023, according to Oxfam's analysis using Forbes' real-time billionaires list. Image Credit: Shutterstock
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The report, strategically released during the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, drew attention to the soaring wealth levels of the super-rich. Notably, several billionaires, excluding Musk, Arnault, Bezos, Ellison, and Buffett, called on global leaders to implement fair taxation for the wealthiest. Here's a look at the wealth of these five billionaires spotlighted this week, and where their fortunes stand today. Image Credit: AP
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ELON MUSK: $226.6 billion: Elon Musk is currently considered the world's richest person, with a net worth of $226.6 billion per Forbes' real-time rankings as of Wednesday. That's down from $245.5 billion as of November 2023. In addition to being at the helm of Tesla, Musk is CEO of rocket ship company SpaceX. In 2022, he also purchased Twitter, which is now called X, for $44 billion . While he no longer serves as CEO of the social media platform, his still holds broad influence — and has faced ample pushback from issues ranging from content moderation and hate speech to alienating advertisers. Image Credit: REUTERS
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BERNARD ARNAULT AND FAMILY: $175.1 billion: Bernard Arnault and his family currently hold a personal fortune of $175.1 billion per Forbes. That's down from about $191.3 in November 2023. The French businessman has served as CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury group , since becoming the majority shareholder in 1989. He is also president of the board for Groupe Arnault S.E., which is his family's holding company and primarily an investment firm. Image Credit: AFP
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JEFF BEZOS: $173.6 BILLION: Jeff Bezos' net worth stood at $173.6 billion Wednesday per Forbes. That's up from $167.4 billion in November 2023. Back in 1994, Bezos founded Amazon out of a Seattle garage — and his wealth skyrocketed as the company grew into the e-commerce giant it is today. He stepped down as CEO in early 2021, but still has broad influence over Amazon as executive chair and the company’s biggest shareholder. Image Credit: AFP
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LARRY ELLISON: $134.9 BILLION: Larry Ellison currently has a personal fortune of $134.9 billion, according to Forbes, down from $145.5 in November 2023. Ellison co-founded Oracle Corporation , a software and database management giant, in 1977 and served as CEO until 2014. He is now chief technology officer and chairman of the board. Ellison, who also had a stint on Tesla's board of directors from 2018 to 2022, has ranked high in billionaire lists for several years now. Image Credit: AP
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WARREN BUFFETT: $119.5 BILLION: At the time Oxfam pulled Forbes figures for its inequality report, Warren Buffett was the world's fifth richest person with a net worth of $119.2 billion. While his personal fortune has stayed relatively stable since ($119.5 billion as of Wednesday), Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg and Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates have surpassed him in Forbes’ rankings with current net worths of $129.5 billion and $120.1 billion, respectively. Over the years, Buffett has gained a reputation for his investment success and aggressive business tactics. He runs Berkshire Hathaway , a holding conglomerate that owns dozens of companies across sectors like insurance, manufacturing, utilities, transportation and retail. Image Credit: REUTERS
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