North America And Europe Combined Got $10.9 Trillion Poorer In 2022. Russia Gained $600 Billion

MORE - The US lost more wealth than any other country last year, shedding $5.9 trillion, while North America and Europe combined got $10.9 trillion poorer.https://t.co/Q25EFnbs4f

— Disclose.tv (@disclosetv) August 16, 2023

Business Insider: Russia got richer even as the war in Ukraine raged on last year, while the West shed trillions of dollars of wealth 

* Russia added $600 billion of total wealth last year, a report by UBS indicated. 

* The number of millionaires and ultra-high-net-worth individuals also rose, despite the war in Ukraine raging on. 

* Meanwhile, the US and Europe shed trillions of dollars worth of wealth, the Swiss bank reported. 

Russians got richer last year even as the war in Ukraine raged on, while the US and Europe lost trillions of dollars, UBS reported. 

Russia added $600 billion of total wealth, the Swiss bank found in its annual Global Wealth Report, published Tuesday. 

The number of Russian millionaires also rose by about 56,000 to 408,000 in 2022, while the number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals — people worth over $50 million — jumped by nearly 4,500.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: The Global Wealth Report from UBS is here .... Global Wealth Report 2023 – global wealth set to rise by 38% over the next five years (UBS).

China Overtakes US With The Highest Global Net Worth

Daily Mail: Global wealth trebles in last 20 years as China overtakes US with the highest net worth - accounting for a third of world's growth 

 * China's wealth rocketed to $120 trillion from a slender $7 trillion in 2000 

* The United States saw its net worth double over the same period to $90 trillion 

* Report found that historic link between net worth and GDP has been severed 

* This has been driven by soaring asset prices and declining interest rates 

Global net worth has trebled over the last two decades, with China accounting for a third of its growth, according to a new report. 

China's wealth rocketed to $120 trillion from a slender $7 trillion in 2000, the year before it joined the World Trade Organization, accelerating its boom. 

The United States, held back by smaller real estate gains, saw its net worth double over the same period to $90 trillion.  

Read more ....  

Update: Global Wealth Surges as China Overtakes U.S. to Grab Top Spot (Bloomberg)  

WNU Editor: China's growth rate has declined slightly due to Covid, but it is going to continue to expand significantly in the coming years even with all the problems that China has.

This Chart Reveals The Distribution Of Global Wealth

Zero Hedge: This Simple Chart Reveals The Distribution Of Global Wealth 

The pandemic resulted in global wealth taking a significant dip in the first part of 2020. By the end of March, global household wealth had already declined by around 4.4%. 

However, as Visual Capitalist's Anshool Deshmukh details below, after much monetary and fiscal stimulus from governments around the world, global household wealth was more than able to recover, finishing up the year at $418.3 trillion, a 7.4% gain from the previous year. 

Using data from Credit Suisse, this graphic looks at how global wealth is distributed among the adult population.  

Read more ....  

WNU Editor: Latin America's wealth has been battered by the pandemic. Butaccording to the above  every part of the world should enjoy growth in the coming 4 years, including those at the bottom..

Amazon's Jeff Bezos Is The First Person Ever To Be Worth More Than $200 Billion

Forbes: Jeff Bezos Becomes The First Person Ever Worth $200 Billion

The world's richest person, Jeff Bezos, is wealthier than he's ever been. Early Wednesday he crossed a milestone previously unseen in the nearly four decades Forbes has been tracking net worths: With Amazon stock edging up 2% as of Wednesday afternoon, Bezos' net worth is up by $4.9 billion, making the 56-year-old the world's first-ever person to amass a $200 billion fortune.

As of 1:50 p.m. EDT on Wednesday, the Amazon founder and CEO is worth $204.6 billion—nearly $90 billion more than the world's second-richest person, Bill Gates, who's currently worth $116.1 billion.

Read more ....

Update #1: Jeff Bezos is now worth more than $200 billion (CNBC)
Update #2: Jeff Bezos is now worth a whopping $200 billion (CNN)

WNU Editor: Where I live (Montreal), I would estimate that about a third of storefronts and a slightly higher number of stores in shopping malls are now empty. And these closures are growing. But Amazon and large store chains like Home Depot, Costco, Walmart, and others are booming. IMHO this is not a healthy trend for society as a whole.

Where The World’s Ultra-Wealthy Live

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Visual Capitalist: World’s Ultra-Wealthy Population, in One Chart

Reaching the status of “millionaire” used to be a big deal.

But with rising inflation, a higher cost of living in cities, and changing perceptions around wealth, the six zero milestone doesn’t mean as much anymore.

Heck, there are over 16 million millionaires globally, and 4.3 million in the United States alone. Therefore, to really get a sense of the makeup of the world’s ultra-wealthy population, we need a more exclusive and finely-tuned indicator.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: The world only has 129,730 people with fortunes of US$50 million or more. I thought the number was higher.

Mapping The Richest People In The World

Zero Hedge: Mapping The Richest People In The World

A few weeks ago, HowMuch.net detailed the richest person on each continent. Today, we take this one step further to show you the richest person in each country, according to Forbes.

First off, Bill Gates is not on our list. Why? Because Jeff Bezos is officially worth more than him. Amazon has made some recent high-profile business decisions, including the acquisition of Whole Foods and announcing a competition for the location of a second headquarters. Bezos’ fortune is specifically tied to the price of Amazon’s stock. He’s been in first place and fallen behind Mr. Gates before, but for now, he remains in the top spot. Carlos Slim Helu ($61.9B) and David Thomson ($26.9B) round out the continent, although we should mention the richest billionaire in the Caribbean too: Jacky Xu, who made his money in the apparel industry.

Read more ....

WNU Editor:  A lot of rich people in the world.

Credit Suisse: Globe’s Richest 1% Own Half The World’s Wealth

(Click on Image to Enlarge)

Source: Credit Suisse Research Institute, Global Wealth Report 2016

The Guardian: Richest 1% own half the world's wealth, study finds

Credit Suisse report highlights increasing gap between the super-rich and the remainder of the globe’s population

The globe’s richest 1% own half the world’s wealth, according to a new report highlighting the growing gap between the super-rich and everyone else.

The world’s richest people have seen their share of the globe’s total wealth increase from 42.5% at the height of the 2008 financial crisis to 50.1% in 2017, or $140tn (£106tn), according to Credit Suisse’s global wealth report published on Tuesday.

“The share of the top 1% has been on an upward path ever since [the crisis], passing the 2000 level in 2013 and achieving new peaks every year thereafter,” the annual report said. The bank said “global wealth inequality has certainly been high and rising in the post-crisis period”.

Read more ....

WNU Editor: This is actually progress. There was a time when the top 0.1% owed everything.

OXFAM: The World's 62 Richest Billionaires Have As Much Wealth As Half The World

CNN: The 62 richest people have as much wealth as half the world

The world's 62 richest billionaires have as much wealth as the bottom half of the world's population, according to a new report from Oxfam International.

The wealthiest have seen their net worth soar over the five years ending in 2015. Back in 2010, it took 388 mega-rich people to own as much as half the world.

And the Top 1% own more than everyone else combined -- a milestone reached in 2015, a year earlier than Oxfam had predicted.

Oxfam released its annual report ahead of the World Economic Forum in the Swiss city of Davos, a yearly gathering of political and financial leaders. The study draws from the Forbes annual list of billionaires and Credit Suisse's Global Wealth Databook.

WNU Editor: I am sceptical of Oxfam's numbers. Global wealth is over $200 trillion .... Who Owns What Of The $223 Trillion In Global Wealth (Zero hedge) .... 62 individuals do not own half of that (we have many billionaires in the world, but a trillionaire does not exist yet). But when one looks at the trend lines (see above graph) .... you cannot help but be shocked on how quickly this is all transforming.

More News On The World's 62 Richest Billionaires Having As Much Wealth As Half The World

Richest 1% will own more than all the rest by 2016 -- Oxfam
Richest 1% own more than the rest of us: Oxfam -- AFP
Wealth of richest 1% 'equal to other 99%' -- BBC
Richest 62 billionaires as wealthy as half the world population combined -- The Guardian
Oxfam says 1% of population own half of world’s wealth -- Irish Times
Just 62 People Have the Same Wealth as Half the World's Population: Oxfam -- Newsweek
Oxfam study highlights massive global wealth divide -- USA Today
Just 62 people now own the same wealth as half the world's population, research finds -- The Independent
Richest 1% Now Wealthier Than the Rest of the World, Oxfam Says -- Bloomberg
A world divided: Elites descend on Swiss Alps amid rising inequality -- Reuters

The Rise Of The Oligarchs In The U.S.

Homeless gets ready to spend the night on a sidewalk two blocks from the White House in Washington, DC, in this December 15, 2009 file photograph. REUTERS/Hyungwon Kang

Josh Hoxie, Reuters: If the answer is $2.3 trillion, can you guess the question?

Just how large is the gap between the wealthiest Americans and the typical U.S. family? Here’s one way to think about it: the richest 400 people in the United States together possess more wealth than over 60 percent of the country, a striking 194 million people and more than the populations of Mexico and Canada combined.

A new report that I co-authored, Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, provides a window into the world of the uber-wealthy and explores the widening gap. I propose a bold set of policies to reduce this gap, both by taxing the top and investing in broader opportunity for the rest of the country.

WNU Editor: What bugs me about the current situation/system is having the uber-wealthy preach to us on why we need to pay more taxes, and live a lifestyle with less .... while they themselves go out of their ways to avoid taxes and to maintain a lifestyle that we can only dream about. I have no problems with people becoming billionaires .... my cousins in Russia are working like hell and dreaming to become just that in Russia .... but I do have a problem when these oligarchs use their wealth to influence government policy to take more of my wealth, while sheltering their own. Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Warren Buffet, Michael Bloomberg .... to name a few. These oligarchs .... and that is who they are .... may enjoy an "untouchable" status today, but if trends continue, there has been precedents where they can easily lose this status overnight. Case in point .... when Russian President Putin went after the oligarchs in the 1990s everyone predicted his demise ... but he persevered much to the surprise of many of these (former) greedy and corrupt mega-billionaires.

How China's Oligarchs Quietly Stashed Up To $4 Trillion In The Caribbean

Illustration: Tim Meko

China's Princelings Storing Riches In Caribbean Offshore Haven -- James Ball and Guardian US Interactive Team, The Guardian

Relatives of political leaders including China's current president and former premier named in trove of leaked documents from the British Virgin Islands

More than a dozen family members of China's top political and military leaders are making use of offshore companies based in the British Virgin Islands, leaked financial documents reveal.

The brother-in-law of China's current president, Xi Jinping, as well as the son and son-in-law of former premier Wen Jiabao are among the political relations making use of the offshore havens, financial records show.

Read more ....

More News On The Wealth That China's Elite Has Accumulated (And Stashed)

China's cash haven in the British Virgin islands – the key points -- The Guardian
Exclusive: Offshore assets of China's elite revealed in leaked records -- CBC
Report Says China’s Elite Use Offshore Companies -- New York Times
Report Details Overseas Accounts of Chinese Elite -- New York Times
China's Elite Wealth in Offshore Tax Havens, Leaked Files Show -- Bloomberg Businessweek
China's Elite Hide Wealth Offshore -- Voice of America
Report: Families of Top Chinese Leaders Concealing Riches Overseas -- Voice of America
Secret Offshore Wealth of China's Leaders Revealed -- ABC News
Chinese leaders' riches cloaked in offshore tax havens, report says -- NBC
Relatives of China's leaders stash wealth in offshore tax havens: report -- Global Post/Yonhap News
Found: Offshore Wealth Stashed by Families of China’s Leaders -- Time
Relatives of Chinese leaders have offshore accounts, says ICIJ -- The Hindu
Chinese oil giants make use of offshore shell companies in Caribbean -- The Guardian
Reporting on ‘Offshore Leaks China’ took six months and news partners from around the world -- Poynter
ICIJ Reveals China's Elite's Offshore Trillion-Dollar Offshore Holdings: Five Takeaways -- IBTimes
More than half of China’s most powerful officials have links to tax havens. Now what? -- Heather Timmons, Quartz
China's Epic Offshore Wealth Revealed: How Chinese Oligarchs Quietly Parked Up To $4 Trillion In The Caribbean -- Zero Hedge

WNU Editor: The International Consortium of Investigative Journalists report on China's "hidden wealth" can be read here.