The Eight Richest People in the World Have the Equivalent Wealth of Half the Planet
That’s the combined wealth of 3.6 billion people.
Charitable organization Oxfam has calculated its annual wealth figure to measure the combined wealth of the world’s richest billionaires and published its findings for the World Economic Forum this year in Davos, Switzerland. Its discovery is astonishing — the eight richest people in the world, when combined, are worth more than half of the world population’s wealth. The billionaires — all male — encompass a little over $426 billion USD, with Microsoft founder Bill Gates commanding more than $75 billion USD of that figure and an average between them at approximately $53 billion USD. Comparatively, if you were to divide the $426 billion USD across the lower half of the human race, each individual would hold a mere $118.39 USD, rounded up.
The findings also revealed that the world’s first trillionaire could emerge in as early as the next 25 years, at the current rate of economics.
Did you find this report surprising? Take a look at the list of the eight richest billionaires below and let us know what you think of the report in the comments.
Bill Gates, Founder of Microsoft — $75 Billion USD
Amancio Ortega Gaona, Founder of Inditex — $67 Billion USD
Warren E. Buffett, Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway — $60.8 Billion USD
Carlos Slim Helú, Mexican business magnate — $50 Billion USD
Jeff Bezos, Founder of Amazon — $45.2 Billion USD
Mark Zuckerberg, Founder of Facebook — $44.6 Billion USD
Lawrence J. Ellison, Founder of Oracle — $45.2 Billion USD
Michael R. Bloomberg, Former Mayor of New York and Founder of Bloomberg L.L.P. — $40 Billion USD
