Oxfam: 'Dismantle the 'New Aristocracy'

Billionaires' wealth grew three times faster in 2024 than the year before, a top anti-poverty group reported Monday, as some of the world's political and financial elite prepared for an annual gathering in Davos, Switzerland. Oxfam International, in its latest assessment of global inequality timed to the opening of the World Economic Forum meeting, also predicts at least five trillionaires will crop up over the next decade. A year ago, the group forecast that only one trillionaire would appear during that time, per the AP. OxFam's research adds weight to a warning by outgoing President Biden last week of a "dangerous concentration of power in the hands of very few ultra-wealthy people."

• The numbers: Many investors racked up strong gains in 2024, with strong performances for top tech companies and stock market indexes like the S&P 500, as well as the price of gold and cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. In its report, titled "Takers Not Makers," Oxfam also says the number of people in poverty has barely budged since 1990. The group said billionaire wealth grew by $2 trillion last year, or roughly $5.7 billion a day—three times faster than in 2023. The number of billionaires rose by 204 to 2,769, and the 10 richest men saw their wealth rise nearly $100 million a day on average, it said.

• Poverty: Citing World Bank data, the group says the number of people living on less than $6.85 per day has "barely changed" since 1990. By contrast, at least four new billionaires were "minted" every week in 2024. Three-fifths of billionaire wealth comes from inheritance, monopoly power, or "crony connections," Oxfam said.
• 'New aristocracy,' in US and beyond: New US President Donald Trump has long championed wealth accumulation—including his own—and counts multibillionaire Elon Musk as a top adviser. "What you're seeing at the moment is a billionaire president taking oaths today, backed by the richest man. So this is pretty much the jewel in the crown of the global oligarchies," says Amitabh Behar, executive director of Oxfam. "It's not about one specific individual. It's the economic system that we have created where the billionaires are now pretty much being able to shape economic policies, social policies, which eventually gives them more and more profit."
• Oxfam's take: Like Biden's call for making billionaires "begin to pay their fair share" through the US tax code, Oxfam—a global advocacy group—called on governments to tax the richest to reduce inequality and extreme wealth, and to "dismantle the new aristocracy." The group called for steps like the breakup of monopolies, capping CEO pay, and regulation of corporations to ensure they pay "living wages" to workers.

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