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Modern Economics | ||
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Burgess COMMENTARY Peter Burgess | ||
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Original article:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/chasewithorn/2021/04/30/american-billionaires-have-gotten-12-trillion-richer-during-the-pandemic/
How Much Money America’s Billionaires Have Made During The Covid-19 Pandemic Billionaires Elon Musk at the Axel Springer Award ceremony in 2020. HANNIBAL HANSCHKE-POOL/GETTY IMAGES “Twenty million Americans lost their job in the pandemic,” Joe Biden remarked in his Wednesday night address to Congress. “At the same time, roughly 650 billionaires in America saw their net worth increase by more than $1 trillion . . . and they’re now worth more than $4 trillion.” That’s true, according to Forbes’ data—but the numbers are actually a bit richer. Total American billionaire wealth stands at $4.6 trillion as of the stock market close on April 28, by our count. That’s up 35% from $3.4 trillion when markets opened on January 1, 2020, just as Covid-19 was beginning to take the world by storm. In other words, U.S. billionaires have gotten about $1.2 trillion richer during the pandemic. Markets are surging, despite more than a year of lockdowns and a spike in unemployment, leading to a boost in the value of 401(k)s, IRAs and other investment accounts for Americans everywhere. The S&P 500 is up 29% since January 1, 2020, even with the March 2020 Covid crash; the Dow Jones Industrial Average is likewise up 19%. But many billionaires—who often have much of their wealth tied up in individual companies, or portfolios of investments in things like private equity and hedge funds that are not available to average Americans—are faring much better. Three quarters of America’s 722 billionaires are as rich, or richer, than they were before the pandemic—some by billions, tens of billions, or even more than one hundred billion dollars. Just 20 big gainers account for more than half of the increase in all U.S. billionaires’ wealth. The biggest gainer of all, in dollar terms: Elon Musk, who has had an incredible run since the beginning of 2020. The Tesla and SpaceX chief’s net worth has skyrocketed an incredible 540%, from about $27 billion in early January 2020 to more than $170 billion today. For that he can thank Tesla stock—which is up more than 700% as enthusiasm for the electric vehicle maker has pushed shares into the stratosphere—plus hefty Tesla stock option awards and an $850 million funding round for SpaceX, which lifted the private spaceflight firm’s valuation to a reported $74 billion. In early January 2021, Musk spent a brief time as the world’s richest person, though he has since fallen back to No. 3. Jeff Bezos, the world’s richest person, has also been a winner. Shares of Amazon are up by 87% over the past 15 months as quarantining shoppers have flocked to the e-commerce giant during the pandemic, helping drive an $86 billion increase in Bezos’ fortune since January 2020. Forbes estimates that Bezos is the first person in history worth more than $200 billion. Other big gainers include Google cofounders Larry Page and Sergey Brin, who are worth $102 billion and $99 billion, respectively—making them each more than $40 billion richer than before the pandemic. They’re two of 15 tech billionaires who are among the 25 biggest gainers since the pandemic began, as tech stocks have fared particularly well. Big Billionaire Gains These 10 members of the three-comma club have added a collective $488 billion to their fortunes since the beginning of 2020. Billionaire Source of Wealth Wealth Gain (since Jan. 1, 2020)
Chase Peterson-Withorn ... Forbes Staff
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