Richest 20 billionaires own same wealth as 50% of world’s population

It’s that time of year again - the envy-inducing Forbes’ annual billionaire ranking.

On Tuesday, the popular business magazine released its annual list of the world’s wealthiest individuals, which inadvertently shed light on the vast economic inequalities worldwide.

One eye-catching statistic stood out: The combined wealth of just 20 of the top billionaires featured - $2.1trn - is greater than the wealth owned by 50% of the world’s population.

As for the top 1% of Americans, they have a combined net worth of around $35.2 trillion. That’s comparable to just over 30.4% of all household wealth in the US.

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According to data from the US Federal Reserve, global billionaire wealth has skyrocketed at an unprecedented rate since 1989.

In addition, the pandemic has somehow allowed American billionaires to grow remarkably richer, such as Elon Musk, who became the world’s fifth centibillionaire in August of 2020, crossing the $100 billion benchmark.

However, Jeff Bezos remains at the top of the billionaire list, with a net worth of $177 billion.

Kim Kardashian is a new addition to the list, however Kylie Jenner was removed after a deeper dive into her finances suggested she wasn’t actually a billionaire - yet.