Tech and health giants in the inner circle of billionaires
The fortune of the founders or directors of GAFAM increased by 42.5%.
© REUTERS / Saumya Khandelwal
Text by: Agnieszka Kumor
3 min
The super-rich get richer.
Despite the shock of the coronavirus pandemic, billionaire fortunes have reached new heights.
This is what emerges from a joint study carried out by the Swiss bank UBS and the audit firm PWC.
It is in particular the giants of technology and health who benefit from this windfall.
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10,200 billion dollars is the record amount of fortune of these billionaires.
Equivalent to 8 666 billion euros.
A colossal sum that far exceeds the previous peak recorded in 2017 when it peaked at 8,900 billion dollars (7,563 billion euros).
Not only are the super-rich richer, they are more numerous.
At the end of July, the world had 2,189 billionaires.
Who are they ?
Did not the March stock market crash affect them?
Yes, some fortunes even left this restricted circle before a sharp rebound in technology and health values began.
The booming tech sector
While airlines, hotels, bars and restaurants, and travel agencies bear the brunt of the coronavirus pandemic, tech companies are keeping their heads above water and are even booming.
This segment includes teleworking solutions, video games, online food ordering, online training, streaming services, e-commerce, videoconferencing and social networks.
It is precisely the tech giants who are the big winners from this crisis.
The famous GAFAM, acronym for Google, Apple, Facebook, Amazon and Microsoft.
The fortune of their founders or managers increased by 42.5%.
Not surprisingly, the stock market values of these large technology groups are rising.
Investors have understood this well.
The health sector is on the rise
This is also the case for large groups and pharmaceutical laboratories.
After the first shock, last March, health actors resisted the crisis well, and they benefited at the same time.
The race against time to find the vaccine against the coronavirus has delighted billionaires in the health sector, whose fortunes have grown by 50%.
And that could last beyond the current crisis.
According to experts, the sector is driven by lasting trends such as aging populations and increasing access to healthcare in emerging countries.
By comparison, the fortunes of the ultra-rich who operate in entertainment, financial services or real estate have increased by just 10%.
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