BUSINESS
The 50 richest Americans are worth as much as the poorest 165 million
October 12, 2020 - The 50 richest Americans have a combined net worth nearly equal to the poorest 50 percent of the U.S. population – some 165 million people – according to data from the U.S. Federal Reserve.
Covid-19 has exacerbated inequality in the U.S., with job losses falling heavily on low-wage service workers and the virus disproportionately infecting and killing people of colour, Bloomberg said.
The 50 richest people in the country are worth almost $2 trillion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, up $339 billion from the beginning of 2020.
At the same time, the poorest 50 percent of Americans collectively hold just $2.08 trillion, or 1.9 percent of all U.S. household wealth.
Meanwhile, the top one percent of Americans have a combined net worth of $34.2 trillion. They hold 30.4 percent of all U.S. household wealth and more than half of the equity in corporations and in mutual fund shares, according to the Federal Reserve data.