A good year for the 1 percent: World’s wealthiest people got $1.2 TRILLION richer in 2019 – and Jeff Bezos is still top of the list even after losing $9billion in his divorce
- The 500 wealthiest people in the world gained $1.2trillion in 2019
- Top of the list is Jeff Bezos, who still has a fortune of $116billion despite losing $9billion through his divorce
- His wife MacKenzie walked away with $36billion worth of his Amazon stock
- Bernard Arnault gained the most money by adding a staggering $36.5b to his wealth
- Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg also got richer by more than $20billion
The world’s richest people got even wealthier in 2019, gaining $1.2 trillion between them which amounts to a 25 percent increase.
According to Bloomberg’s Billionaire’s Index, the richest 500 people in the world now have a combined wealth of $5.9 trillion, an increase of almost a quarter since last year.
Jeff Bezos tops the list as the richest person in the world, with Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg also in the top five.
Individually, Bezos lost money in his divorce from his wife of 23 years, MacKenzie, in the summer.
Jeff Bezos remains the richest man in the world with a fortune of $116billion despite his divorce. Bill Gates is the second richest man in the world. He gained $23.1billion in 2019
She walked away with a quarter of their combined Amazon shares, worth an estimated $36billion.
But he is now only down $9billion, thanks to an increase in the company’s stock.
Facebook founder Zuckerberg was up by $27.3billion despite growing criticism of his monopoly on social media.
Bill Gates’ fortune also rose by $22.7billion.
The biggest gains were enjoyed by Bernard Arnault, who gained $36.5 billion, bringing his total fortune to $106billion.
The revelations are likely to enrage politicians both in the UK and US, where liberals have spent much of the last year calling for tighter controls on how the richest gain and retain wealth.
Presidential hopefuls including Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren have made it a campaign point to go after the world’s wealthiest.
In the UK, defeated Labour party leader Jeremy Corbyn anchored his campaign to the same theme.
There are 173 billionaires in the world, according to the index by Bloomberg.
Among notable additions to this year’s list is Kylie Jenner, who became the youngest self-made billionaire this year through her eponymous beauty line.
The notable losers included Rupert Murdoch, who lost $10billion of his personal fortune by giving it to his children.
WeWork’s embattled former CEO Adam Neumann also saw his prospects plummet when the company went from a $47billion valuation to an $8billion valuation. WeWork plans to go public next year.
Kylie Jenner became the youngest self-made billionaire at the age of 21. Bernard Arnault gained more money than anyone in 2019, adding $37.7billion to his fortune