The number of billionaires worldwide continues its unprecedented rise, while their wealth is growing at an alarming rate, according to a recent report released by Oxfam ahead of the World Economic Forum in Davos on Monday. This serves as a further indicator of the widening global inequality gap.
Oxfam stated that the world's richest man, Elon Musk, earns in just four seconds the equivalent of an average person's annual income. According to the organization's calculations, Musk would need to donate more than $4,500 every second to start his wealth decreasing instead of continuing to grow.
The report's figures reveal that billionaires earn an average of $6,000 during a short 20-minute nap and around $145,000 during an eight-hour night's sleep, as reported by the German Press Agency (dpa). This stark comparison reflects the vast disparity between the wealthy elite and the majority of the world's population.
Record Wealth Growth in 2025
The organization, which focuses on combating poverty and promoting development, reported that nearly 3,000 billionaires worldwide possessed a combined wealth of $18.3 trillion last year. Adjusted for inflation, this wealth has increased by more than 80% since March 2020, while nearly half the world's population still lives in poverty, according to the report.
Oxfam based its report on data from multiple sources, including Forbes magazine's billionaire wealth estimates, World Bank figures, and the UBS Global Wealth Report.
The organization explained that billionaires' wealth grew by approximately 16% last year, three times the average growth rate of previous years. It noted that the 12 richest people in the world now possess more wealth than the poorest half of the world's population—more than 4 billion people.
Davos: The Elite Gathering Under Scrutiny
This year's Davos Forum is expected to draw a record 65 world leaders, along with dozens of central bank governors, finance ministers, and top executives from global corporations. Despite this, Oxfam asserts that it is among the most vocal critics of the gathering, arguing that the global elite often offers only eloquent speeches about the plight of the poor without enacting any real change.
Wealth Growth and Growing Political Influence
Oxfam warned that the accumulation of wealth is accompanied by an unprecedented concentration of political influence, noting that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely than ordinary citizens to hold political office, according to Reuters.
The organization linked the recent surge in wealth to the policies of US President Donald Trump, particularly during his second term, which saw tax cuts, deregulation of multinational corporations, and a decline in antitrust oversight.
High valuations of artificial intelligence companies have also contributed to massive additional gains for wealthy investors, further widening the gap between the top and the bottom.
“The widening gap between the rich and the rest of the world’s population is not only creating economic inequality, but also leading to a serious and unsustainable political deficit,” said Oxfam Executive Director Amitabh Behar.
Calls for Radical Reforms
Oxfam urged governments to adopt national plans to reduce inequality, impose higher taxes on super-rich wealth, and strengthen the separation of money and politics, including stricter controls on lobbying and campaign finance.
It noted that only a few countries, such as Norway, currently implement direct wealth taxes, while others, including Britain, France, and Italy, are considering similar measures.
The Nairobi-based organization estimated that billionaires added approximately $2.5 trillion to their wealth last year, an amount roughly equivalent to the total wealth held by the poorest 4.1 billion people in the world.
The report also highlighted what it described as the growing control of traditional and digital media by the super-rich, asserting that billionaires now own more than half of the world’s major media companies, citing as examples the stakes held by Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Patrick Soon-Shiong, and the Frenchman Vincent Bolloré, which raises increasing concerns about the impact of wealth on public opinion and democracy.
