Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Amancio Ortega, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg control as much wealth as the world’s poorest 3.6 billion people. Their collective net worth is roughly $426 billion.
“It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when one in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day,” said Winnie Byanyima, executive director of Oxfam International. “Inequality is trapping hundreds of millions in poverty; it is fracturing our societies and undermining democracy.”
The gap between the super-rich and the poor is greater than even a year ago. This kind of wealth inequality is creating a lot of political turmoil in the world and it looks like it will only get worse. The ease at which the rich are able to avoid paying their fair share in taxes, as exposed by the “Panama Papers” last year, illustrates the danger and corruption of the incredibly wealthy.
“We have a situation where billionaires are paying less tax often than their cleaner or their secretary,” Max Lawson, Oxfam’s policy adviser told The Associated Press. “That’s crazy.”
COMMENTS