US Billionaires Add $406B To Collective Wealth While More Than 30M People Lose Jobs During Pandemic

The collective wealth of billionaires rose by $406 billion in March, despite the economic havoc wreaked upon the masses by the coronavirus pandemic.

The Rich Keep Growing Richer

The Insitute For Policy Studies, a Washington, D.C.-based progressive think tank, noted that 170 billionaires have seen their wealth increase by “tens of millions of dollars.”

In their report titled “Billionaire Bonanza 2020,” they write that eight billionaires saw their wealth increase by over $1 billion.

Citing the example of Jeff Bezos, the CEO of Amazon Inc. AMZN, the Institute noted that as of April 15, his wealth had risen by an estimated $25 billion from January 1, a figure larger than the GDP of Honduras in 2018. Bezos has benefited from ever-rising demand for Amazon’s services during the ongoing pandemic.

The company has announced it is hiring 75,000 new workers.

The research is published during the time when the country is suffering the consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, with over 30 million people filing for unemployment benefit, according to the Wall Street Journal.

Markets Recover Faster Than People

The Institute studied the wealth increase of billionaires between March 18 and April 29, a period in which the S&P500 rose nearly 23%.

In this period, the billionaires grew richer by 14% collectively, while 30 million Americans filed for unemployment benefits.

The effects of the pandemic have decimated jobs across the country. The government meanwhile announced several stimulus measures to shore up the economy, which sent markets soaring as a result.

Billionaires Don’t Hurt For Long

Rebound from a crisis is quicker for billionaires as well. In the aftermath of the 2008 economic crisis, Forbes 400’s wealth fell by $300 billion in 2008 to $ 1.27 trillion in 2009.

Within 30 months of the September 2008 crash, most billionaires had recovered their fortunes, and by 2012, their combined wealth reached $ 1.7 trillion, exceeding the pre-2008 levels.

Helping the American billionaires recover were reduced tax obligations, which fell 79 percent between 1980 and 2018.

No Stopping The Pandemic “Profiteers” 

In the current health crisis, a number of individuals have seen their fortunes blossom.

These include Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. TSLA, who is richer by $10 billion from January 1. Eric Yuan, CEO of Zoom Video Communications Inc. ZM gained $3.5 billion, thanks to the popularity of his video conferencing app, and former chief executive of Microsoft Corporation MSFT Steve Ballmer, who also owns the Los Angeles Clippers, grew wealthier by $2.2 billion.

The report makes a grim observation, “Ordinary people around the globe may now be struggling to survive a ravaging public health and economic crisis, but early indicators suggest the billionaire class will maintain its wealth or even see a major surge.”

Turning The Tide Against Obscene Wealth

The Institute has a number of suggestions for changing the status quo, which include establishing a “Pandemic Profiteering Oversight Committee” and discouraging wealth hiding through the passage of the Corporate Transparency Act.

They also suggest levying an emergency 10 percent Millionaire Income Surtax and reforming the estate tax soy it is more progressive. Finally, they call for the imposition of a wealth tax and the abolition of the “hidden wealth system.”

Photo Credit: Steve Jurvetson via Wikimedia.