Post by the Scribe on Mar 1, 2024 11:47:03 GMT
The richest Americans became 40% richer during the pandemic
www.theguardian.com/media/2021/oct/05/richest-americans-became-richer-during-pandemic
This article is more than 2 years old
The Forbes 400 – who have each accumulated at least $2.9bn – added $4.5tn to their wealth
Dominic Rushe
@dominicru
Tue 5 Oct 2021 11.43 EDT
The 400 richest Americans added $4.5tn to their wealth last year, a 40% rise, even as the pandemic shuttered large parts of the US, according to Forbes magazine’s latest tally of the country’s richest people.
The Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, retained top spot for a fourth consecutive year with a net worth of $201bn, followed by Elon Musk of Tesla and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, with net worths of $190.5bn and $134.5bn respectively.
The ranks of the super rich were swollen by 44 newcomers, the highest number since 2007, among them Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of the Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna.
Miriam Adelson, wife of the late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, was the richest newcomer, with $30.4bn. The youngest newcomer was the 29-year-old cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, the second-richest new entrant, with an estimated $22.5bn.
To make the list, people now have to have a minimum net worth of $2.9bn, up $800m from a year ago.
The pandemic initially triggered a record-setting wave of layoffs. The job market has recovered significantly but the economic impact of the coronavirus is still shaking large parts of the US economy. States are bracing for an avalanche of evictions after the expiration of federal protections.
Stock markets and property prices have continued to soar, trends that have disproportionately padded the wealth of the richest.
“Despite the uncertainty and the ever-changing market economy, the 2021 Forbes 400 shows that America’s wealthiest have grown far richer,” said Kerry Dolan, assistant managing editor, wealth at Forbes.
But not all of the wealthy have had a good pandemic. Former president Donald Trump has dropped off the Forbes 400 for the first time. Trump’s estimated $2.5bn fortune is $400m short of this year’s cutoff, according to Forbes.
The magazine calculates that the pandemic hit to Trump’s portfolio of big-city properties shrank his fortune by $600m. Trump had an opportunity to offload those assets at the start of his presidency.
“If Trump is looking for someone to blame, he can start with himself,” said Forbes.
With the potential of another Trump presidency looming, there are countless angles to cover around this year’s election – and we'll be there to shed light on each new development, with explainers, key takeaways and analysis of what it means for America, democracy and the world.
From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.
From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not. If you can, please consider supporting us just once from $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.
Betsy Reed
Editor, Guardian US
www.theguardian.com/media/2021/oct/05/richest-americans-became-richer-during-pandemic
This article is more than 2 years old
The Forbes 400 – who have each accumulated at least $2.9bn – added $4.5tn to their wealth
Dominic Rushe
@dominicru
Tue 5 Oct 2021 11.43 EDT
The 400 richest Americans added $4.5tn to their wealth last year, a 40% rise, even as the pandemic shuttered large parts of the US, according to Forbes magazine’s latest tally of the country’s richest people.
The Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, retained top spot for a fourth consecutive year with a net worth of $201bn, followed by Elon Musk of Tesla and Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook, with net worths of $190.5bn and $134.5bn respectively.
The ranks of the super rich were swollen by 44 newcomers, the highest number since 2007, among them Melinda French Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, bitcoin billionaires Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss and Noubar Afeyan, co-founder of the Covid-19 vaccine maker Moderna.
Miriam Adelson, wife of the late casino mogul Sheldon Adelson, was the richest newcomer, with $30.4bn. The youngest newcomer was the 29-year-old cryptocurrency billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, the second-richest new entrant, with an estimated $22.5bn.
To make the list, people now have to have a minimum net worth of $2.9bn, up $800m from a year ago.
The pandemic initially triggered a record-setting wave of layoffs. The job market has recovered significantly but the economic impact of the coronavirus is still shaking large parts of the US economy. States are bracing for an avalanche of evictions after the expiration of federal protections.
Stock markets and property prices have continued to soar, trends that have disproportionately padded the wealth of the richest.
“Despite the uncertainty and the ever-changing market economy, the 2021 Forbes 400 shows that America’s wealthiest have grown far richer,” said Kerry Dolan, assistant managing editor, wealth at Forbes.
But not all of the wealthy have had a good pandemic. Former president Donald Trump has dropped off the Forbes 400 for the first time. Trump’s estimated $2.5bn fortune is $400m short of this year’s cutoff, according to Forbes.
The magazine calculates that the pandemic hit to Trump’s portfolio of big-city properties shrank his fortune by $600m. Trump had an opportunity to offload those assets at the start of his presidency.
“If Trump is looking for someone to blame, he can start with himself,” said Forbes.
With the potential of another Trump presidency looming, there are countless angles to cover around this year’s election – and we'll be there to shed light on each new development, with explainers, key takeaways and analysis of what it means for America, democracy and the world.
From Elon Musk to the Murdochs, a small number of billionaire owners have a powerful hold on so much of the information that reaches the public about what’s happening in the world. The Guardian is different. We have no billionaire owner or shareholders to consider. Our journalism is produced to serve the public interest – not profit motives.
And we avoid the trap that befalls much US media: the tendency, born of a desire to please all sides, to engage in false equivalence in the name of neutrality. We always strive to be fair. But sometimes that means calling out the lies of powerful people and institutions – and making clear how misinformation and demagoguery can damage democracy.
From threats to election integrity, to the spiraling climate crisis, to complex foreign conflicts, our journalists contextualize, investigate and illuminate the critical stories of our time. As a global news organization with a robust US reporting staff, we’re able to provide a fresh, outsider perspective – one so often missing in the American media bubble.
Around the world, readers can access the Guardian’s paywall-free journalism because of our unique reader-supported model. That’s because of people like you. Our readers keep us independent, beholden to no outside influence and accessible to everyone – whether they can afford to pay for news, or not. If you can, please consider supporting us just once from $1, or better yet, support us every month with a little more. Thank you.
Betsy Reed
Editor, Guardian US