During 2020, the pandemic dealt a severe blow to the economy of millions of families around the world. Yet while some grappled with unemployment, lower wages, less purchasing power and low economic growth, billionaires like Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk generated record profits.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index , 0.001% of the population benefited during the health crisis. This year, the world's 500 richest people added $ 1.8 trillion to their combined net worth and are now valued at $ 7.6 trillion.
This equates to a 31% increase and a 3 trillion rally from the market's lowest point in March. In addition, it is the largest annual gain reported in the eight-year history of the Bloomberg index.
In the top 25 tycoons, it stands out that there are five people with fortunes of more than 100 billion dollars. The next 20 have at least $ 50 billion. Together, the world's two richest men made roughly $ 217 billion in 2020.
Jeff Bezos, founder and CEO of Amazon, remains the richest person in the world. This is explained by the boom in online retail during lockdowns due to the coronavirus pandemic. In the last 12 months, Bezos' fortune grew 63%, thanks to the 72.7 billion dollars that he added to the 116 billion that he owned at the end of 2019.
Elon Musk had the highest earnings, possibly in the fastest time of wealth creation in history. The owner of SpaceX and Tesla rose to second place after the value of his electric vehicle company soared. In total, the businessman made about $ 144 billion from all of his businesses last year.
Increase in Asian fortunes
Chinese members of the index added $ 569 billion to their wealth, more than any other country apart from the United States.
Zhong Shanshan , the bottled water mogul Nongfu Spring, became the richest person in Asia. Initial offerings from two of his companies added $ 70.9 billion to his net worth. This year he replaced Mukesh Ambani, who is president, CEO and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries, India's largest private company conglomerate.
The rise of video conferencing increased the wealth of Eric Yuan, the Chinese immigrant creator of Zoom Video Communications Inc. Also John Foley, CEO of Peloton Interactive Inc. became a billionaire, thanks to the combination of his routine app with income of sports equipment, perfect for athletes who were left without a gym in the pandemic.
On the other hand, among the millionaires in the region who did not prosper is Jack Ma. The now retired founder of Alibaba Group Holding Ltd. started 2020 as the richest person in China, but everything changed after he criticized Chinese regulators.
In November, the Chinese government thwarted the listing of its Ant Group Co., and in December launched an investigation against Alibaba for alleged monopolistic practices . This caused a drop in the value of the online trading company's stock, which depleted his net worth and took him out of his job.
With information from Bloomberg .
Related:
Jeff Bezos and Elon Musk broke wealth records in 2020
Elon Musk and Jeff Bezos' Space Projects May Be Tax-Exempt to Attract Investors
Meet Austin Russell, the World's Youngest New Billionaire Who Dropped Out of College To Pursue His Dream
Before you consider Ameriana Bancorp, you'll want to hear this.
MarketBeat keeps track of Wall Street's top-rated and best performing research analysts and the stocks they recommend to their clients on a daily basis. MarketBeat has identified the five stocks that top analysts are quietly whispering to their clients to buy now before the broader market catches on... and Ameriana Bancorp wasn't on the list.
While Ameriana Bancorp currently has a "hold" rating among analysts, top-rated analysts believe these five stocks are better buys.
View The Five Stocks Here
Click the link below and we'll send you MarketBeat's list of the 10 best stocks to own in 2024 and why they should be in your portfolio.
Get This Free Report
Like this article? Share it with a colleague.
Link copied to clipboard.
