A report of Fox News website stated that the number of American billionaires reaches 800 people, who represent a quarter of the world's billionaires and possess a wealth of 3.4 trillion dollars.

And a recent study issued by the Institute of Political Studies pointed out that the wealth of American billionaires has increased by 20% since the start of the outbreak of the new Corona virus, or $ 565 billion.

And 800 billionaires represent a huge number compared to what the situation was at the end of 2016, when they were 620 billionaires and they owned 2.6 trillion dollars.

According to the study, which was seen by Al Jazeera Net, personal wealth of Jeff Bezos, president of the Amazon company, and Elon Musk, president of Tesla Company, and Eric Yuan, president of Zoom company - separately - increased by at least two billion dollars.

Meanwhile, from January 1 to April 10, 2020, the fortunes of 34 of the 170 richest billionaires in the United States grew by tens and hundreds of millions of dollars.

Understandable increase

Although the United States experienced an unprecedented economic recession because of the consequences of the emerging Corona virus and the loss of more than 40 million Americans jobs, the billionaires' fortunes continued to rise, because many of their businesses were linked to the technology sector that benefited from this economic pandemic.

According to Sharif Othman, a financial expert at the Washington Analytica Corporation in the US capital, there are reasons that led to the increase in the number of billionaires and the size of their wealth.

"The pandemic of the emerging coronavirus has not affected all sectors in a balanced way," he said. "The technology sector in general has recovered a lot because of the closure measures that most American states have followed."

Othman added in an interview with Al-Jazeera Net that "increased shopping on the Internet, in addition to holding business meetings via electronic means, as well as education, have led to an increase in technology companies profits and an increase in the value of their shares in various exchanges."

A report broadcast by the American National Radio showed that the percentage of the American workforce that was working remotely electronically before the spread of the Coruna virus did not exceed 5%, but in mid-June last it reached more than 60%.

This has prompted many companies to rely on secure technology applications that allow job encounters, discussions, file and offer exchanges, and the education sector has witnessed the same experience during the past four months, and this has affected the size of the entry of many heads of technology companies to the American billionaire club.

Jeff Bezos (right), Mark Zuckerberg (center), and Bill Gates are among the world's richest people (networking sites)

The impact of Trump's policies

On the other hand, the policies of US President Donald Trump (who is also a billionaire) regarding tax exemptions have driven the business sector to benefit from many exemptions that were not available before, and the rich have benefited from the decline in tax obligations during the past years.

Economic studies indicated that the tax obligations of American billionaires decreased by 79% between 1980 and 2018.

Wealth studies have pointed to several facts about America's billionaires:

  • 56% of billionaires in America are the ones who made their wealth and did not inherit it, and this percentage is much greater than its counterparts in Western countries.
  • Billionaires are generally older, and the average age is just over 65.
  •  There were exceptions in the technology sector, as only 10% of billionaires are under 50 years of age.
  • Men represent 88% of America's billionaires, compared to 12% of women.
  • New York City has 113 billionaires, with Wall Street and the world's largest markets. 

 The 5 richest people in the United States

1- Jeff Bezos ($ 113 billion Amazon)

2 - Bill Gates (Microsoft Corporation $ 98 billion)

3- Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway Corporation $ 68 billion)

4- Larry Ellison (Oracle Corporation, $ 59 billion)

5- Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook company $ 55 billion)