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Richest 80 people in the world revealed... and 35 of them are American citizens

Hindustani78

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Richest 80 people in the world revealed... and 35 of them are American | Daily Mail Online
  • The combined wealth of the 80 richest billionaires is the same amount as that of the bottom 50% of the Earth's population, Oxfam said in a new report
  • Eight of the top ten wealthiest billionaires are American
  • Oxfam found a steep drop and that 388 billionaires had the same amount of money as the bottom 50% of the Earth's population in 2010
  • The charity's report also said that the richest 1 percent of the population will own more than half the world's wealth by 2016
By Zoe Szathmary for MailOnline and Associated Press

Published: 07:34 GMT, 21 January 2015 | Updated: 15:40 GMT, 21 January 2015

The richest 80 people in the world have been revealed... and 35 of them are American.

According to a new report from Oxfam International, the combined wealth of the 80 richest billionaires is the same as that of the bottom 50% of the Earth's population - 3.5 billion people.

The report, 'Wealth: Having It All and Wanting More,' was released as the World Economic Forum begins this week in Davos, Switzerland.

Oxfam's report explained that it calculated figures from Credit Suisse and based its list of wealthiest figures off Forbes' billionaires list, which was published in March 2014.

'By 2014, the 80 people who top the Forbes rich list had a collective wealth of $1.9tn,' the charity's report said.

According to the Forbes list, the five wealthiest people in the world are Bill Gates (net worth $76 billion), Carlos Slim Helu (net worth $72 billion), Amancio Ortega (net worth $64 billion), Warren Buffett (net worth $58.2 billion), and Larry Ellison (net worth $48 billion).

Rounding out the top ten are brothers Charles and David Koch (whose net worth was tied at $40 billion), Sheldon Adelson (net worth $38 billion), Christy Walton (net worth $36.7 billion) and Jim Walton (net worth $34.7 billion).

492 people out of the 1,645 billionaires on the 2014 Forbes list are US citizens, Oxfam pointed out. Aside from Slim Helu and Ortega - who are from Mexico and Spain, respectively - all the billionaires in the top ten are Americans.

Oxfam found that 388 billionaires had the same amount of money as the bottom 50% of the Earth's population in 2010.

The charity's report also said that the richest 1 percent of the population will own more than half the world's wealth by 2016.

Oxfam said the world's richest people saw their share of global wealth jump to 48 percent last year from 44 percent in 2009.

Rising inequality is holding back the fight against global poverty as the world's biggest companies lobby the U.S. and European Union for beneficial tax changes at a time when average taxpayers are still paying the bill for the financial crisis, Oxfam said.

'Do we really want to live in a world where the 1 percent own more than the rest of us combined?' Winnie Byanyima, Oxfam's executive director, said in a statement. 'The scale of global inequality is quite simply staggering, and despite the issues shooting up the global agenda, the gap between the richest and the rest is widening fast.'

While world leaders such as President Barack Obama and International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde have talked about tackling extreme economic inequality 'we are still waiting for many of them to walk the walk,' Byanyima said.

The healthcare and financial services industries spent almost $900 million to lobby the U.S. government for favorable legislation in 2013, and more than $200 million was spent on lobbying in the EU, Oxfam said.

At the same time, one in nine people don't have enough to eat and more than a billion people live on less than $1.25 a day, Oxfam said, ticking off statistics that paint a grim picture for all but the world's richest.

The charity is calling for a crackdown on tax avoidance by corporations and rich people, as well as increased investment in health and education and equal pay legislation.
 
They don't call US the land of opportunities for nothing. It is a place that allows you to become the richest of the rich or the poorest of the poor. Choice is yours.
 
I think I'm gonna puke ! :bad:

I hope someday we live in a more economically egalitarian society where the wealth circulates between individuals of the society instead of being concentrated in very few hands and being passed from one generation to the other.
 
I think I'm gonna puke ! :bad:

I hope someday we live in a more economically egalitarian society where the wealth circulates between individuals of the society instead of being concentrated in very few hands and being passed from one generation to the other.

Some people are funny, since they won't even receive a dime from them.

Yet they keep cheerleading and act like a bunch of mental slaves for those tycoons.
 
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I think I'm gonna puke ! :bad:

I hope someday we live in a more economically egalitarian society where the wealth circulates between individuals of the society instead of being concentrated in very few hands and being passed from one generation to the other.

There is always somebody who wants more.. there is always somebody who is working harder than others... so naturally there will be an unequal distribution of wealth. A world where everybody has the same is an utopia and wont work. And such a society would also lag behind in innovation, compared to a society where there is no limit for rewards... may it be in money, status or power.

And why work more or study for years if everyone eventually gets the same?
 
Here even many aspects should even be considered like technology, natural resources, manpower, industries, population etc.
 
I think I'm gonna puke ! :bad:

I hope someday we live in a more economically egalitarian society where the wealth circulates between individuals of the society instead of being concentrated in very few hands and being passed from one generation to the other.

It's sad but it's the way the world works now. Even members here are privileged, for every bit of overindulgence of one man, there's someone who pays for it or is not as well off on aggregate, even our more basic indulgences come at a price. I too want to see a fairer society, but it won't happen in our day and age.
 
There is always somebody who wants more.. there is always somebody who is working harder than others... so naturally there will be an unequal distribution of wealth. A world where everybody has the same is an utopia and wont work. And such a society would also lag behind in innovation, compared to a society where there is no limit for rewards... may it be in money, status or power.

And why work more or study for years if everyone eventually gets the same?

Who's asking for an equal distribution of wealth ? I'm simply saying that half of the world's wealth concentrated in the hands of less than 1% of the world's population is not alright. There is a reason why a more egalitarian distribution of wealth is on the cards in the minds of quite a few Economists and Political and Social Scientists who are asking whether the current system that we have in place where such a cut-throat approach is taken can be sustained any further ?

It's sad but it's the way the world works now. Even members here are privileged, for every bit of overindulgence of one man, there's someone who pays for it or is not as well off on aggregate, even our more basic indulgences come at a price. I too want to see a fairer society, but it won't happen in our day and age.

Is that a veiled reference for me ? :o:

Just because I can go scot-free for trolling, off-topic posts and even the occasional tantrums while the less privileged members here would probably be handed a ban for 1/10th that; shouldn't in any way imply that I don't stand for a fair, just and equal PDF ! :D

All are Equal here but some are more equal than others ! :azn:

On Topic:
I hear you. But this has to stop; this primal instinct of survival of the fittest has given way to compassion, understanding and fairness in other areas and I think it may do so in economics as well. The Socialists tried that out....it didn't quite work as planned but I'm sure there would be more who'd come up with different ways of achieving a society where the Elite isn't filthy rich while the rest of us have to fight for scraps. Who knows maybe someone, somewhere may finally succeed in finding the right balance between the fruits of labor and having a compassionate society.
 
They can have their billions. I'm happy for my well paying job + benefits ! :)

Which allows me decent amount of free time !

And why work more or study for years if everyone eventually gets the same?

Because ultimately , those who successfully finish their studies may be given a preliminary acceptance as an Assistant Professor in a Tenured Track? :)
 
There is always somebody who wants more.. there is always somebody who is working harder than others... so naturally there will be an unequal distribution of wealth. A world where everybody has the same is an utopia and wont work. And such a society would also lag behind in innovation, compared to a society where there is no limit for rewards... may it be in money, status or power.

And why work more or study for years if everyone eventually gets the same?

Some people were born with a higher societal status which allows them to have the greater chance to access for more fortune.
 

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