Bloomberg released its annual report on the world’s top billionaires, who in 2019 alone, scrapped up a record-breaking combined net-worth of 5.9 trillion dollars.
That’s a big turnaround compared to last year when it was reported that for the first time in seven years, high net-worth individuals saw their riches plummet.
Kylie Jenner has been named the youngest self-made billionaire this year after selling a 51% share of her company, Kylie Cosmetics, to Ulta Beauty Inc. for a whopping $600 million.
Regardless of her success, Kylie Cosmetics always seems to be under fire by countless beauty gurus and YouTube reviewers.
Perhaps it’s the advertising techniques and bandwagon mentality that contribute to her wealth.
2019 has certainly been the year of atypical fortunes.
The Korean family that popularized the catchy tune ‘baby shark doo-doo doo-doo doo-doo,’ cashed in at $125 million this year.
And even junkyards have shown to be in high demand. Willis Johnson, the founder of Copart Inc., raked in a $1.9 billion fortune by constructing a network of junkyards to sell damaged vehicles.
8-year-old YouTube star and toy reviewer, Ryan Kaji, pulled an estimated $26 million this year.
According to the Bloomberg report, the world’s 500 uber-rich collected an additional $1.2 trillion this year. Thus bringing the overall total to $5.9 trillion.
Amazon founder, Jeff Bezos, still holds first place for the world’s richest person. He is one of three centi-billionaires, regardless of his $9 billion decline due to his divorce.
The winners of 2019 for the 0.001% are as follows
- The 172 American billionaires on the Bloomberg ranking added $500 billion, with Facebook Inc.’s Mark Zuckerberg up $27.3 billion and Microsoft Corp. co-founder Bill Gates rose $22.7 billion.
- Representation from China continued to grow, with the nation’s contingent rising to 54, second only to the U.S. He Xiangjian, founder of China’s biggest air-conditioner exporter, was the standout performer as his wealth surged 79% to $23.3 billion.
- Russia’s richest added $51 billion, a collective increase of 21%, as emerging-market assets from currencies to stocks and bonds rebounded in 2019 after posting big losses a year earlier.
Cited: bloomberg.com
To put it in perspective, the richest 0.1% which is just 500 individuals in the U.S. Controls more wealth than the GDP of the U.S. at the end of the third quarter of 2019, which was $5.4 trillion.
This is the first report of this happening since 1929.
Reports like this bring about the issue of income equality. Prompting politicians and social activists to speak out demanding radical economy reconstruction.
Democratic representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez said in a Dec. 12 tweet “The hoarding of wealth by the few is coming at the cost of peoples’ lives.”
What are your thoughts on the Bloomberg Billionaire List? Will this information affect how you vote? Let us know in the comments!
