The fortunes of the richest in the US grew to 44,600 billion dollars, approximately 484,225 billion Norwegian kroner, at the end of the fourth quarter, according to new data from the central bank Federal Reserve (Fed). That’s what CNBC writes.
The total wealth of the top one per cent richest in the country increased by 2,000 billion dollars during the quarter. At the same time, the share and fund shares grew from a total of 17,650 billion to 19,700 billion dollars.
The Fed has defined the top one per cent richest in the country as anyone with a fortune of over 11 million dollars, or 119 million kroner, given today’s exchange rate.
Since 2020, the wealth of this one percent has increased by 49 percent, almost $15 trillion. At the same time, CNBC writes that the American middle class has also increased its wealth by 50 per cent over the same period.
“The effect of rising stock prices provides a strong tailwind for consumer confidence, spending and broader economic growth,” says Moody’s Analytics chief economist Mark Zandi. He further says that this helps to underpin the vulnerability of the economy should the stock market fail.
Separate sessions
The gap between rich and poor in the world continues to increase, the report from the British aid organization Oxfam showed in January.
The world’s five richest men, Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Warren Buffet, in 2020 had fortunes totaling NOK 4,170 billion. Last year they were good for a total of NOK 8,946 billion.
During the same period, 4.8 billion people, who make up more than half of the world’s inhabitants, became poorer.
If Bezos and the other four men who top the list of riches had spent $1 million a day, it would still take them 476 years to use up their wealth, Oxfam had calculated.
Tags: Recordhigh fortunes among Americas richest
