The Institute for Policy Studies shows that the dozen richest American billionaires now collectively own more than $1 trillion in wealth, a finding one analyst described as “a disturbing milestone in the U.S. history of concentrated wealth and power.”
According to IPS, the 12 top U.S. billionaires have seen their combined wealth soar by 40%—or $283 billion—since the coronavirus began spreading rapidly across the U.S. in mid-March, sparking widespread economic shutdowns and mass job loss.
“During the first stage of the pandemic, between January 1 and March 18, the collective wealth of the Oligarchic Dozen declined by $96 billion,” wrote IPS researchers Chuck Collins and Omar Ocampo. “But their wealth quickly rebounded and surpassed their September 2019 Forbes 400 wealth level. The only exception is Warren Buffett, who is still $2 billion below his September 2019 wealth, but is currently worth $80 billion.”
Jeff Bezos—$189.5 billion Bill Gates—$114.1 billion Mark Zuckerberg—$95.5 billion Warren Buffett—$80.6 billion Elon Musk—$73.1 billion Steve Ballmer—$71.5 billion Larry Ellison—$70.9 billion Larry Page—$67.4 billion Sergey Brin—$65.6 billion Alice Walton—$62.6 billion Jim Walton—$62.3 billion Rob Walton—$62.03 billion https://www.commondreams.org/news/2020/08/17/disturbing-milestone-just-12-us-billionaires-now-own-more-1-trillion-combined-wealth
