Houston, we have a billionaire problem. There are 2,781 individuals in the world worth more than a billion dollars, according to Forbes, and together these people have a net worth of $14.2tn, roughly the GDP of the Eurozone. The US boasts more super-rich than any other country, including eight of the planet’s 10 richest men. (The top of the chart is all men, until you get to the L’Oréal heiress Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, at number 15.) All but one of these eight made their fortunes in the tech sector, and you’ll be familiar with many of their names: Musk, Bezos, Zuckerberg, Gates.
So what, you might say – there’s no law against getting filthy rich. These people have worked hard for their Gulfstream jets and frigate-sized yachts. But with great piles of cash comes great power, and too often billionaires find ways around our frail systems of democratic oversight. They dodge taxes, bend politics and the media to their will, create monopolies, and disproportionately damage the planet. The problem is only getting worse, since, as Thomas Piketty has pointed out, when the return on capital exceeds the rate of economic growth, big money grows faster than small money or no money at all. In 2024, according to Forbes, the billionaires are collectively $2tn better off than they were last year. Continue reading...
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