Billionaire Wealth in US Surges Past $1 Trillion since Beginning of Pandemic

Shafaq News/ The combined wealth of U.S. billionaires surpassed $1 trillion in gains since March 2020 and the beginning of the pandemic, an increase of over 34 percent.

Tuesday, November 24, as the Dow crossed the 30,000 mark, the wealth of 650 U.S. billionaires approached a total of $4 trillion, with $1.008 trillion in growth since March 2020.

Of this group, 29 billionaires have seen their wealth double since March 2020.  There are 36 additional billionaires in the U.S. since March 2020.  There are 47 new individuals on the list, with 11 going off the list due to death or financial decline.

Some of the big gains include Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Dan Gilbert.

The almost $4 trillion owned by U.S. billionaires is about 3.5 percent of all privately held wealth in the U.S., estimated at $112 trillion.

 Billionaire wealth is twice the amount of wealth held by the bottom 50 percent of households combined, roughly 160 million people.

Since the beginning of the pandemic, the wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged $931 billion, according to analysis by the Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies. This updates ongoing research by the Institute for Policy Studies begun with the report, Billionaire Bonanza 2020: Wealth Windfalls, Tumbling Taxes and Pandemic Profiteers.

Between March 18 –the rough start of the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic — and October 13, the total wealth of 644 U.S. billionaires increased from $2.95 trillion to $3.88 trillion, a rise of 31.6 percent.

The COVID-19 pandemic has killed over 220,000 Americans and destroyed the health, wealth and livelihood of millions of households. T

he U.S. Senate’s failure to pass another emergency relief bill has increased desperation for many households and localities – as some regions enter a second wave of infections with winter approaching. Unemployment is rising again as many businesses are being shuttered, some permanently.

While the wealth of billionaires tracks the rises and falls of the stock market, a group of “pandemic profiteers” have seen their wealth surge to unimaginable heights during a time of misfortune for most of their neighbors. Many of them are profiting from increasing dependence on cloud-based technologies, online retail, drug research, telemedicine, and video-conferencing – services that have become essential services during the pandemic. Wall Street is anticipating a further concentration of corporate ownership and rewarding those best positioned to reap those rewards.

The expansion of retail giant Amazon comes at the expense of millions of bricks-and-mortar small businesses forced to close to foot traffic. Jeff Bezos’s wealth grew from $113 billion on March 18 to $203 billion on Oct. 13, an increase of 80 percent. Adding in his ex-wife Mackenzie Scott’s wealth of $65.7 billion on that day and the two had a combined wealth of more than a quarter of a trillion dollars thanks to their Amazon stock.

Elon Musk’s wealth has more than tripled since the beginning of the pandemic. Thanks to Musk’s technologies, such as Tesla, his wealth grew from $24.6 billion on March 18 to $92.8 billion on Oct. 13, an increase of 277 percent. Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth grew from $54.7 billion on March 18 to $101 billion on Oct. 13, an increase of 85 percent, fueled by his Facebook stock.

Video conference technologies have become essential services during the pandemic. Zoom’s Eric Yaun wasn’t even a billionaire in 2019. Now is wealth is over $22 billion, an increase of over 300 percent since March 18th. Steve Ballmer, a major owner of Microsoft and its TEAMS video conferencing, has seen his wealth increase by $22 billion since March 18, an increase of 43.4 percent

The increasing dependence of online financial services and telemedicine have boosted some fortunes. Dan Gilbert, chairman of Quicken Loans, saw his wealth rocket by 656 percent, to $49.2 billion from $6.5 billion 7 months earlier.

Not all billionaires have seen their fortunes boom. Major owners in the fossil fuel energy sector have seen their wealth decline.