Billionaire wealth surges by $2 trillion

Billionaire wealth surged in 2024, as the world’s richest people increasingly benefited from inheritance and powerful connections, according to Oxfam’s latest annual inequality report.

The combined wealth of the world’s most wealthy rose from $13 trillion to $15 trillion in just 12 months, the global charity said Sunday. It marks the second largest annual increase in billionaire wealth since Oxfam records started.

Meanwhile, the number of people living in poverty has barely changed since 1990, the charity said, citing World Bank Data. The richest 1% of people own nearly 45% of all wealth, while 44% of humanity are living below the World Bank poverty line of $6.85 per day, the data showed.

As the wealth of the world’s richest people accelerates at a faster pace than previously predicted, Oxfam now expects to see at least five trillionaires within a decade.

“The capture of our global economy by a privileged few has reached heights once considered unimaginable,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“The failure to stop billionaires is now spawning soon-to-be trillionaires. Not only has the rate of billionaire wealth accumulation accelerated—by three times—but so too has their power,” he said.

The report highlights an increase in “unmerited wealth,” showing that 60% of billionaire wealth now comes from inheritance, monopoly or the power of “crony connections.”

Oxfam’s “Takers Not Makers” report comes as billionaire Donald Trump returns to the White House and 3,000 leaders from more than 130 countries prepare to take part in the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos.

Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and close ally of Trump, is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire by 2027, according to a report from Informa Connect Academy. He’s currently worth about around $440 billion, the Bloomberg Billionaires Index indicates.

Outgoing U.S. President Joe Biden this week warned of the rise of an “oligarchy taking shape in America of extreme wealth, power and influence.”

“People should be able to make as much as they can, but pay — play by the same rules, pay their fair share in taxes,” Biden said in his farewell address.

Oxfam is urging on governments to commit to ensuring that the incomes of the top 10% are no higher than the bottom 40% worldwide. Global economic rules should be adjusted to allow for the break-up of monopolies, and more corporate regulation and global tax policies should be adapted to ensure that the rich pay their fair share, according to the charity.

Money that is flowing to the bank accounts of the super rich instead of much-needed investment in teachers and medicines is “not just bad for the economy — it’s bad for humanity,” said Oxfam’s Behar.

“So many of the so-called ‘self-made’ are actually heirs to vast fortunes, handed down through generations of unearned privilege. Untaxed billions of dollars in inheritance is an affront to fairness, perpetuating a new aristocracy where wealth and power stays locked in the hands of a few,” he said.