Using data from Forbes, the report's authors calculated that the combined wealth of these five men – Tesla CEO Elon Musk; Bernard Arnault and his family, who own the luxury goods group LVMH; Amazon founder Jeff Bezos; Oracle founder Larry Ellison; and investor Warren Buffett — up from $453 billion in 2019 to $869 billion as of November 2023. (Bezos owns The Washington Post.)
In their methodology, the authors write that if this growth trajectory continues, Musk — the world's richest person, according to Forbes — is expected to become a trillionaire in less than nine years, though they note that the estimate is subject to uncertainty.
“If the five richest men each spent $1 million a day, it would take 476 years to exhaust their combined wealth,” the Oxfam authors wrote.
Representatives of these individuals could not immediately be reached late Monday.
But Oxfam said that “daily life has become more brutal” for the world's poorest people – who are more likely to be women and marginalized groups in every society – since 2019. It pointed to the effects of the coronavirus pandemic, as well as “escalating conflict, and accelerating climate crisis.” And the high cost of living.”
The report also stated that globally, men own $105 trillion more than women, a wealth difference equivalent to more than four times the size of the US economy.
Oxfam has urged governments around the world to adopt caps on executive salaries, along with permanent taxes on wealth and excess profits.
