The world's 500 richest people added nearly $ 1.8 trillion to their combined wealth in 2020, bringing their total wealth to $ 7.6 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Writer Celine Castronovo - in her report published by the American newspaper "The Hill" - said that this increase of 31%, which they achieved even amid the economic crisis caused by the Corona pandemic;
It is the largest annual gain in the history of the Bloomberg Index, which spans 8 years.
This growth was mainly recorded by those at the top of the ranking, with 5 people now owning more than $ 100 billion, while the wealth of 20 other individuals is at least $ 50 billion.
Amazon founder and CEO Jeff Bezos tops the Bloomberg Index with nearly $ 190 billion, as his company has benefited greatly from the crisis.
Lockdowns and health restrictions have forced more people to resort to shopping online.
Tesla founder and CEO Elon Musk saw the biggest increase in wealth in 2020, with the Bloomberg Index saying it may be the fastest fortune in history, with $ 170 billion in wealth, surpassing for the first time Microsoft co-founder Bill. Gates, to be named the second richest person in the world last November.
Musk's increase was driven largely by Tesla, whose market value as of January 1 was around $ 670 billion.
About 3-quarters of Musk's net worth is made up of Tesla shares.
Gates is now ranked third with a net worth of about $ 132 billion, while Bernard Arnault, Chairman and CEO of LVMH-Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, ranks fourth. Worth $ 114 billion.
In contrast, Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg ranks fifth in the ranking, with a fortune of about $ 104 billion.
According to Chuck Collins, director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies, the growth of global billionaires "touches the painful side of the millions of people who have lost loved ones and suffered a deterioration in their health, wealth, and livelihoods." ".
"Worse still, this undermines any sense that we are in the midst of this crisis together. Solidarity is needed to overcome the tough months ahead," Collins told Bloomberg.
More than 84 million people around the world have been infected with the Coronavirus (Covid 19), with a death toll of more than 1.8 million, according to data collected by Johns Hopkins University.