[rad-green] World's 500 Richest People Gained $1.2 Trillion in Wealth in 2019: Analysis

*https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/27/worlds-500-richest-people-gained-12-trillion-wealth-2019-analysis
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/12/27/worlds-500-richest-people-gained-12-trillion-wealth-2019-analysis>Common
Dreams          December 27, 2019World's 500 Richest People Gained $1.2
Trillion in Wealth in 2019: Analysis"In the U.S., the richest 0.1% control
a bigger share of the pie than at any time since 1929."by Jake Johnson,
staff writer*


*Bill Gates and Warren Buffett speak with journalist Charlie Rose at an
event organized by Columbia Business School on January 27, 2017 in New York
City. (Photo: Spencer Platt/Getty Images)*

The 500 richest people in the world, all of whom are billionaires, gained a
combined $1.2 trillion in wealth in 2019, further exacerbating inequities
that have not been seen since the late 1920s.

That's according to a new *Bloomberg* analysis
<https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2019-12-27/world-s-richest-gain-1-2-trillion-as-kylie-baby-sharks-prosper>
published
Friday, which found that the planet's 500 richest people saw their
collective net worth soar by 25 percent to $5.9 trillion over the last year.

"In the U.S., the richest 0.1 percent control a bigger share of the pie
than at any time since 1929," *Bloomberg *noted. "The 172 American
billionaires on the *Bloomberg* ranking added $500 billion, with Facebook
Inc.'s Mark Zuckerberg up $27.3 billion and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill
Gates [rising] $22.7 billion."

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index
<https://www.bloomberg.com/billionaires/>, eight of the 10 richest people
in the world are from the U.S.

Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos lost nearly $9 billion in wealth in 2019, according
to *Bloomberg*, but he will still likely end the year as the richest man in
the world with a total net worth of $116 billion.

The analysis comes as 2020 Democratic presidential candidates, particularly
Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.), have made
tackling inequality a key component of their policy platforms.

Warren has proposed
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/01/24/warren-forces-issue-massive-economic-inequality-2020-debate-ultra-millionaire-tax>
an
annual two percent tax on assets over $50 million and a three percent tax
on assets above $1 billion.

Sanders, who has said he does not believe
<https://www.commondreams.org/news/2019/09/24/i-dont-think-billionaires-should-exist-sanders-proposes-wealth-tax-slash-fortunes>
billionaires
should exist, is calling for a wealth tax that would slash the fortunes of
U.S. billionaires in half over 15 years, according to his campaign.

"A small handful of billionaires should not be able to accumulate more
money than they could spend in 10 lifetimes," Sanders said in September,
"while millions of Americans are living in poverty and dying because they
can't afford healthcare."

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