Worlds 85 richest have as much money as 3.5 billion poorest people put together The 85 richest people in the world now have as much money as the 3.5 billion poorest put together. The combined wealth of people including Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and the Koch Brothers has increased to £1 trillion. And the top one per cent of earners are worth £67.3 trillion - almost half (46 per cent) of the worlds wealth, according to a report by Oxfam. Critics claim the surge in inequality has been driven by power grabbing wealthy elites who harbour close relationships with leading politicians. The world now has 1,426 billionaires with a combined wealth of £3.3 trillion, and 12 million millionaires, the report found. The number of US millionaires has increased to 3.7million - up 11.5 per cent on last year - while the UK has an estimated 345,271 net millionaire households - up 12.6 per cent. The findings come as David Cameron and other world leaders fly to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economics Forum, attended by some of the most influential businesses. Oxfam said the focus of the exclusive gathering – which includes more than 2,500 business leaders, heads of state and other powerful figures – must be the ‘extreme economic inequality’ which is ‘undermining social stability and threatening global security’. Winnie Byanyima, chief executive of Oxfam, said: We cannot hope to win the fight against poverty without tackling inequality. Widening inequality is creating a vicious circle where wealth and power are increasingly concentrated in the hands of a few, leaving the rest of us to fight over crumbs from the top table. In developed and developing countries alike we are increasingly living in a world where the lowest tax rates, the best health and education and the opportunity to influence are being given not just to the rich but also to their children. Since the late 1970s, tax rates for the richest have fallen in 29 out of 30 countries for which data are available, said the report. Opinion polls in Spain, Brazil, India, South Africa, the US, UK and Netherlands found that a majority in each country believe that wealthy people exert too much influence. Concern was strongest in Spain, followed by Brazil and India and least marked in the Netherlands. The WEF’s own Global Risks report recently identified widening income disparities as one of the biggest threats to the world community. TOP 10 RICHEST IN THE WORLD. 1. Carlos Slim Helu (Telecom) £44.6bn 2. Bill Gates (Microsoft) £41bn 3. Amancio Ortega (Zara) £34.8bn 4. Warren Buffet (Berkshire Hathaway) £32.7bn 5. Larry Ellison (Oracle) £26.3bn 6. Charles Koch (Diversified) £20.8bn 7. David Koch (Diversified) £20.8bn 8. Li Ka-shing (Diversified) £19bn 9. Lilian Bettencourt (LOreal) £18.3bn 10. Bernard Arnault (LVMH) £17.7bn
Posted on: Sat, 25 Jan 2014 12:35:09 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015