How Billionaires Became Richer During The Pandemic

It is no news that the COVID-19 pandemic hitting humanity is still a time laced with uncertainty, and most of all, everyone feeling the wrath on their finances. The common man failed to make ends meet as their finances dwindled to the ground.

While this is a pandemic that has hit everyone, even those in the upper class of the economic status, their financial situation does not seem to reflect these facts. Tracking how the collective wealth of these billionaires were affected by the coronavirus pandemic, it is clear that they are making more money than ever.

Considering previous recessions like the great recession of 2008, many billionaires lost a lot of money, which took them over three years to recover losses incurred. In the coronavirus recession of 2020, most billionaires have made a fortune, and we are going to be taking a look at some of the facts and numbers to clarify why they made this much.

Facts that show that billionaires made money during the pandemic

As of the 20^th of October, American billionaires amassed nearly $1 trillion in wealth. This is the amount they had collectively made since March when the state and local government imposed the lockdown to curb the spread of the virus.

It seems like this is impossible, but it is true. On the 18^th of March – before the lockdown – 614 billionaires in America had a combined worth of $2.95 trillion. By October, there were 650 billionaires – an additional 36 new billionaires – with a combined wealth close to $4 trillion.

This has a similar resemblance to the economic crisis of 1930, where there was a drastic growth in the wealth of American billionaires, and the current state of things points to a pattern that does more to empower the rich as the poor go through a downward spiral.

Why billionaires became richer during the pandemic

We have seen facts; now we have to cover the why of this situation. The only obvious reason why the current financial downtrend is not affecting many of the billionaires today is the unfairness of the American political and economic system, which is wired to channel funds to those at the top and take from those who are struggling to make ends meet.

Many of these billionaires have made these billions, even as millions of Americans plunge into abstract poverty. Facts show that over 20 million Americans lost their jobs due to this pandemic. Many others still stand the risk of losing their jobs. We find Congress contemplating whether or not to continue the financial assistance they have been providing for the needy people of America.

With this, we see many food banks bracing for another rise in demand and, the worst of all, many Americans on the verge of paying months of back rent if a Federal moratorium on rents is allowed to expire with the year rounding up.

So why are billionaires doing well while others are suffering in crisis and frustration? The main reason for this situation is the growing level of inequality between the rich and the poor. The majority of the stocks are owned by the wealthy and the stock market easily recovered from the early depts of the pandemic much more than other aspects of the economy.

Another fact that has led to this increase in wealth is the rapid digitization of everything, which has led to the constant flow of business even with the lockdown, which led to the standstill of many businesses.

How billionaires wealth increased during the pandemic

Many trends – economic and technological – were fast-tracked by the pandemic. Many of these billionaires are owners of big ventures like Dollar General, Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Dollar Tree, all of which recorded huge profits. At the same time, smaller companies ran on huge profits during the same period.

Bottom Line

The fact remains that the current state of economic and political situations profits the billionaires, leading to heads win, and tails lose situation for the people. This inequality is getting more and more obvious to the common man, and if things continue this way, it could prompt a political backlash. This could lead to the fight for better benefits for affordable and better health care, child care, and a reduced gap between the rich and the poor.

If these reforms do not happen, then we might be looking at a future where the gap between the rich and the poor becomes far more than it is now. We are in a tough situation today, and what comes up after these times would decide our fate.