The wealth of the world’s dollar billionaires increased by 16 percent last year, three times faster than the five-year average, according to a study published Monday by the charity organization Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.
Billionaires’ total wealth rose by $2.5 trillion, reaching $18.3 trillion. Meanwhile, the poorest half of humanity—approximately 4.1 billion people—holds roughly the same amount of wealth.
For the first time, the number of dollar billionaires exceeded 3,000 last year. Elon Musk became the first person whose wealth reached $500 billion.
The $2.5 trillion increase would be enough to eliminate extreme poverty worldwide 26 times over. According to the UN methodology, extreme poverty is defined as an individual income of less than $3 per day at 2021 purchasing power parity.
The World Bank estimates that roughly 10 percent of the global population falls into this category.
The WEF, a Swiss nonprofit foundation bringing together political and business leaders along with other influential figures, officially opens on Monday, with leaders beginning to present their positions on Tuesday.
(MTI)
