Richest People in the World
While the crisis caused by the CoVID-19 pandemic pushed 267 people out of the Forbes list of the richest people in the world, there are still many billionaires around to take their vacant seats. For the third year in a row, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos tops the list of the richest people in the world. And this despite the divorce proceedings, which reduced his capital from $ 131 billion to $ 113 billion. Moreover, as a result of the divorce, the ex-wife of Bezos Mackenzie Bezos made her debut on the list at number 22 with a fortune estimated at $ 36 billion. Recently, a report by Oxfam International was published, according to which the 22 richest people in the world have more in total wealth than millions of women in Africa - the most vulnerable group in the world according to the authors of the report.
The richest people in the world in 2020. Did you recognize everyone?
However, since the beginning of the CoVID-19 pandemic, the whole world has started talking about the fact that the new coronavirus is a kind of “great equalizer”, since even the richest people on Earth are not immune to the SARS-CoV- 2 virus. And even regardless of how many mechanical ventilation devices (IVL) they will acquire for personal use. The fall in the number of billionaires this year already reflects the economic impact of the pandemic. According to the authors of the report, women all over the world, especially those living in poverty, carry out more than three-quarters of all unpaid care work that is underestimated and taken for granted by both businesses and governments. Meanwhile, aging populations, declining government spending, and the climate crisis will exacerbate gender and economic inequalities in the future.
The richest people on the planet 2020
Together with the founder of Amazon, Bill Gates was in the first five of the list of the richest people in the world, taking second place. Following him - in third place was Bernard Arnault, chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton. He beat the legendary investor Warren Buffett with a fortune of 76 billion dollars and took an honorable third place. Buffett was in fourth place after his fortune declined by $ 15 billion - to $ 67.5 billion. Also in the top five was Bill Gates - he remained in second place, and his fortune is estimated at 98 billion dollars, which is 1.5 billion more than last year. Oracle founder Larry Ellison ranks fifth with a fortune of $ 59 billion.
Amancio Ortega, co-founder of the owner of Zara Inditex, came in sixth with a net worth of $ 55.1 billion. Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg follows with $ 54.7 billion. Alibaba co-founder Jack Ma became the owner of a fortune of $ 38.8 billion, which allowed him to take 17th place. Twitter Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, who recently announced that he is donating $ 1 billion to charity, including the fight against CoVID-19, took 804th place with a fortune of $ 2.6 billion.
Given the distribution of resources, it is not surprising that there are so many problems in the world
It should be noted that Dorsey's donation is the largest to date, although many other billionaires, including Arno, Zuckerberg and Gates, also donated funds to fight the pandemic. Some of them use their factories to make face masks and hand sanitizers. So, LVMH is engaged in the production of hand sanitizers and accepts orders for surgical masks. In 2020, the Forbes index for the first time hit 178 billionaires. Among them is Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom, whose popularity has increased dramatically due to the fact that most of the world's population is forced to work from home during an outbreak of coronavirus. According to Forbes, his fortune is $ 5.5. billion dollars.
In general, the 2020 ranking includes 2.095 billionaires for a total of $ 8 trillion - compared with 2,153 and $ 8.7 trillion, respectively, in 2019. At the same time, about 267 people dropped out of the list, and a record of 1062 people witnessed the fall of their condition against the backdrop of a pandemic. Among those who are experiencing a decline in condition, President Trump, whose net worth has decreased by $ 1 billion since 2019, when the US president took 715th place.
TOP 5 richest people on the planet
Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder -
Bill Gates, Microsoft Founder -
Bernard Arnault, Executive Director of Louis Vuitton -
Warren Buffett, investor -
Larry Ellison, co-founder of Oracle -
The problem of social inequality
Despite growing awareness of rising inequality, most world leaders continue to pursue policies that benefit the rich and harm the poor. Such data are provided in an Oxfam report, which also indicates tax cuts for billionaires promoted by US President Donald Trump and Brazilian leader Jair Bolsonaro. If the richest 1% of the Earth's population paid only 0.5% of the tax on their combined wealth - and not on annual income - then over the next 10 years this would have made it possible to pay the work of 117 million people worldwide in education, health, and care for the elderly. True, what salary they should receive in the report is not reported.