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Epidemics

As 38.6 Million File for Unemployment, Wealth of Billionaires surged $435 Bn

Inequality.org 05/25/2020

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By Omar Ocampo and Chuck Collins | –

Updates: Billionaire Wealth, U.S. Job Losses and Pandemic Profiteers

( Inequality.org) – The number of U.S. citizens filing for unemployment increased to 38.6 million since March 18, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Over the same two months, the wealth of U.S. billionaires has surged $434 billion – an increase of 15 percent.

The combined fortunes of Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg alone grew by nearly $60 billion during these two months, according to a new analysis, jointly released by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies, which released Billionaire Bonanza 2020 in April to examine billionaire wealth during the first month of the pandemic.

Between March 18 and May 19, the total net worth of the 600-plus U.S. billionaires rose from $2.948 trillion to $3.382 trillion. In March, there were 614 billionaires on the Forbes list. There are 630 two months later, including newcomer Kanye West at $1.3 billion.

Among other COVID-19 victims are the more than 16 million Americans who have likely lost employer-provided healthcare coverage. Low-wage workers, people of color and women have suffered disproportionately in the combined medical and economic crises. Billionaires are overwhelmingly white men.

Wealth growth of other select billionaires in the top 30 on the Forbes May 19 list are below.

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Sources: All data analyzed by ATF and IPS is from Forbes and available here.
March 18, 2020, data is from the Forbes World’s Billionaires List: The Richest in 2020.
May 19, 2020 data was taken from Forbes real-time estimates of worth that day.

Via Inequality.org

Content licensed under a Creative Commons 3.0 License

Filed Under: Epidemics, Inequality, Plutocracy, Poverty

About the Author

Inequality.org has been tracking inequality-related news and views for nearly two decades. A project of the Institute for Policy Studies since 2011, the site aims to provide information and insights for readers ranging from educators and journalists to activists and policy makers. Its focus throughout: What can we do to narrow the staggering economic inequality that so afflicts us in almost every aspect of our lives?

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