"According to an annual report from Oxfam, the world now has 3,000 billionaires. The figure is also soaring, the report shows: "In 2025, billionaire wealth increased three times faster than the average annual rate over the previous five years." To put the growth in perspective, the wealthiest individuals could have given $250 to every person in the world and still been $550 billion richer, based on the increase in their wealth from 2024 to 2025."
"The report, titled "Resisting the Rule of the Rich: Protecting Freedom From Billionaire Power," is a manifesto for those who believe that the wealth of billionaires has made them the most influential group in the world. Aside from the political office statistic, there is not much more to support this, factually. What is more likely to be accurate from the report's observations is that the gulf between the very rich and the rest of the world has grown."
Global billionaire count reached 3,000, with wealth rising much faster in 2025 than the prior five-year average. The wealth increase from 2024 to 2025 alone could have funded $250 for every person and still left the wealthiest $550 billion richer. Billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than ordinary people. Billionaires can acquire news outlets and social platforms, influence politicians, and hire elite lawyers, creating concentrated economic and political power. Evidence for pervasive political control is largely anecdotal. Example cited involves Elon Musk's purchase of social platforms. Proposed remedies include higher wealth taxes and curbs on political influence.
Read at 24/7 Wall St.
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