https://news.trust.org/item/20201007000753-x4yv2
ZURICH, Oct 7 (Reuters) – Billionaire wealth reached record high levels amid the COVID-19 pandemic, a report by UBS and PwC found, as a rally in stock prices and gains in technology and healthcare helped the wealth of the world’s richest break the $10 trillion mark.
The report, covering over 2,000 billionaires representing some 98% of the cohort’s total wealth, found billionaire wealth grew by more than a quarter during the early months of the pandemic to reach $10.2 trillion in July, breaking the previous record of $8.9 trillion at the end of 2019.
The figure represents a five- to ten-fold rise over the past 25 years, the span covered by the UBS and PwC database, when billionaire wealth stood at just over $1 trillion.
Between April 7 and July 31 this year, billionaires across every industry covered by the study saw their wealth rise by double digits, with billionaires in the technology, healthcare and industrial sectors leading the pack with 36%-44% gains.
The pandemic accelerated a trend of technology and healthcare entrepreneurs, and other business innovators, pulling ahead of their ultra-rich peers.
From 2018 through July 2020, tech billionaires saw their wealth rise 42.5% to $1.8 trillion, the report found, while billionaires deriving their fortune from healthcare similarly saw their wealth rise 50.3% during the period to $658.6 billion.
Just over 200 of those billionaires publicly committed some $7.2 billion to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic, the study found, noting that billionaire donations to combat the medical crisis as well as the societal and economic turmoil it caused were likely actually higher. (Reporting by Brenna Hughes Neghaiwi Editing by Alexandra Hudson)
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Jim Cramer: The pandemic led to ‘one of the greatest wealth transfers in history’- "This is the first recession where big business … is coming through virtually unscathed,” https://t.co/ZGLXG6ZngZ
— Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) June 6, 2020
Cramer: “The bigger the business, the more it moves the major averages, and that matters because this is the first recession where big business … is coming through virtually unscathed,” the “Mad Money” host said.
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Despite the global economic shock, the world’s 500 richest people are a combined $813 billion richer now than they were at the beginning of the year, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Total billionaire wealth surged to a fresh peak of $10.2 trillion in July, up from $8.9 trillion at the end of 2017, according to the report findings.
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July 2020: Amazon Doubles Profit To $5.2 Billion As Online Shopping Spikes
Spikes in online shopping during the pandemic helped Amazon net $5.2 billion in profits as its sales soared to record highs between April and June. Amazon’s sales jumped 40% in the second quarter compared with a year earlier, hitting close to $89 billion, the company reported on Thursday. The retailer managed to double its profits even as it spent more than $4 billion on coronavirus-related expenses and added 175,000 new hires to help keep up with demand.
Tech giants’ shares soar as companies benefit from Covid-19 pandemic – Amazon, Apple, Facebook and Google reported positive quarterly results even as overall US economic growth fell by 32.9%
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So Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos says more testing is necessary before the economy can be reopened. Hmm, might Mr. Bezos have an interest in keeping retail stores closed?
— Marc Morano (@ClimateDepot) April 19, 2020
