Current:Home > ScamsCould Elon Musk become world's first trillionaire? Oxfam report says someone might soon -EliteFunds
Could Elon Musk become world's first trillionaire? Oxfam report says someone might soon
View
Date:2025-04-14 02:57:49
The rich just keep on getting richer, and one of them could become the world's first-ever trillionaire within the next decade, according to the anti-poverty group Oxfam International.
The organization released its annual report this week as business and political elites began to gather to hobnob during the World Economic Forum. Warning of an impending "decade of division," the report's most stark findings highlighted the growing wealth gap between billionaires and, well, everyone else.
Could the world's first trillionaire be Tesla CEO Elon Musk, who also owns the social media platform X? How about investment guru Warren Buffett? Or Amazon founder Jeff Bezos?
All three of the billionaires are among the five richest men whose fortunes shot up by 114% since 2020, while the world was reeling during the COVID-19 pandemic, Oxford found using figures from Forbes. French businessman Bernard Arnault, who founded the luxury company LVMH, and Oracle founder Larry Ellison are the other two rounding out the five richest people in the world.
Galaxy S24:How to watch Samsung's 'Galaxy Unpacked 2024'
Oxfam report highlights growing wealth disparity
Oxfam has spent years drawing attention to the growing disparities between the ultra-rich and the rest of the global population during the annual World Economic Forum in the Swiss ski resort of Davos.
The gap is one that has existed for decades, but Oxfam contended it's only been “supercharged” since the coronavirus pandemic.
While tax laws, monopolies and deregulation ensure that the cash is funneled into pockets of the wealthy elite, "billions of people (are) shouldering the economic shockwaves of pandemic, inflation and war," Oxfam International Interim Executive Director Amitabh Behar said in a statement.
"This inequality is no accident," Behar said. "The billionaire class is ensuring corporations deliver more wealth to them at the expense of everyone else."
10 years to trillionaires, 229 years to eradicate poverty
While the world’s five richest men have more than doubled their fortunes from $405 billion to $869 billion since 2020, "nearly five billion people have been made poorer" since the pandemic, according to Oxfam, which estimated that it could take 229 years to eradicate the scourge of poverty. If nothing changes, one of the world's billionaires could reach trillionaire status in the next 10 years, the group said.
In the United States, where more billionaires live than in any other country on the planet, Musk is the richest with a fortune of about $2.26 billion, Oxfam's analysis of Forbes data found. Musk, Bezos and Ellison – the U.S.' three richest men – have together increased their wealth by 84% since 2020, the report concluded.
Meanwhile, people worldwide are working longer hours while the wages of nearly 800 million workers haven't kept up with inflation in the last two years, Oxfam said.
"The United States is home to the most billionaires on Earth, including Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos, names that have become synonymous with obscene wealth," Oxfam American President and CEO Abby Maxman said in a statement. “We must stop normalizing extreme inequality and take deliberate action to prevent the ultra-wealthy and the corporations they control from tightening their stranglehold on our politics and economy.”
Anti-poverty report calls for tax reform, other measures
Oxfam is calling on governments to usher in "a new era of public action" by implementing measures to reduce or slow the widening wealth disparity.
Those policies, per Oxfam, include investing in public services like education and healthcare, taxing the wealthiest people and largest corporations in every country, and breaking up monopolies to make businesses more competitive.
“Every corporation has a responsibility to act but very few are," Behar said. "Governments must step up."
Eric Lagatta covers breaking and trending news for USA TODAY. Reach him at elagatta@gannett.com
veryGood! (42394)
Related
- Trump wants to turn the clock on daylight saving time
- Guns smuggled from the US are blamed for a surge in killings on more Caribbean islands
- Skai Jackson announces pregnancy with first child: 'My heart is so full!'
- Texas mother sentenced to 50 years for leaving kids in dire conditions as son’s body decomposed
- 2 killed, 3 injured in shooting at makeshift club in Houston
- Beyoncé course coming to Yale University to examine her legacy
- Horoscopes Today, November 11, 2024
- Residents urged to shelter in place after apparent explosion at Louisville business
- DoorDash steps up driver ID checks after traffic safety complaints
- Certifying this year’s presidential results begins quietly, in contrast to the 2020 election
Ranking
- Residents worried after ceiling cracks appear following reroofing works at Jalan Tenaga HDB blocks
- RHOBH's Kyle Richards Addresses PK Kemsley Cheating Rumors in the Best Way Possible
- MLS Star Marco Angulo Dead at 22 One Month After Car Crash
- Five best fits for Alex Bregman: Will Astros homegrown star leave as free agent?
- Megan Fox's ex Brian Austin Green tells Machine Gun Kelly to 'grow up'
- Missing Ole Miss student declared legally dead as trial for man accused in his death looms
- 'I know how to do math': New Red Lobster CEO says endless shrimp deal is not coming back
- Summer I Turned Pretty's Gavin Casalegno Marries Girlfriend Cheyanne Casalegno
Recommendation
Cincinnati Bengals quarterback Joe Burrow owns a $3 million Batmobile Tumbler
Princess Kate to host annual Christmas carol service following cancer treatment
Pistons' Tim Hardaway Jr. leaves in wheelchair after banging head on court
Kentucky gets early signature win at Champions Classic against Duke | Opinion
Arkansas State Police probe death of woman found after officer
Mariah Carey's Amazon Holiday Merch Is All I Want for Christmas—and It's Selling Out Fast!
Glen Powell Addresses Rumor He’ll Replace Tom Cruise in Mission Impossible Franchise
As Northeast wildfires keep igniting, is there a drought-buster in sight?