The Corona pandemic - despite its negative repercussions on the living conditions of many - has produced economic opportunities for the rich, as 75% of the world's richest people recorded an increase in their wealth, according to the British Guardian newspaper.
More than 600 US billionaires made profits estimated at $ 580 billion in just three months of the pandemic.
It is noted that the four richest people in the world have increased their profits by 184 billion dollars, since the beginning of the closure.
- Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, the world's richest person
His fortune rose by $ 77 billion to reach 190 billion at the end of July, and he earned 13 billion in one day as shares of his company rose thanks to the boom in electronic shopping.
- Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla.
His fortune increased by $ 50 billion during the pandemic, and has risen to $ 75 billion.
- Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook
He made a gain of $ 45 billion, bringing his fortune to the $ 100 billion mark at the start of August.
- Bill Gates, founder of Microsoft
His earnings have reached $ 20 billion since March, and his fortune has risen to $ 119 billion.
On the contrary, there are other wealthy individuals who incurred losses, including those whose investments are related to the tourism, aviation and retail sectors. The top ten airlines linked to the wealthy lost about $ 14 billion due to the crisis.
How did most of the rich succeed in maximizing their fortunes?
It seems that these people have experience in seizing crisis opportunities. According to "Morgan Stanley", the number of billionaires in the world increased by 80% between 2009 and 2014, bringing their number from about a thousand to 1800 billionaires, despite the circumstances of the financial crisis at the time, in addition to their investment in the sectors of technology and the digital economy. These areas have been strengthened in light of the closure and the divergence.