The richest 20 Americans are as wealthy as half of the entire U.S. population combined
- Wealthiest 20 Americans, with combined net worth of $732billion, are as wealthy as half of the U.S. population, new study says
- Study found country’s richest 20 people now own more wealth than bottom half of population which is about 152 million people
- Wealthiest 20 people includes eight founders of corporations, nine heirs, two investors and a casino mogul
- Study also found that America’s wealth distribution now resembles Seattle’s Space Needle and not a pyramid
The richest 20 Americans, with a combined net worth of $732billion, are as wealthy as half of the U.S. population, according to a new study.
Findings showed that the country’s 20 wealthiest people, which includes Bill Gates and Warren Buffet, now own more wealth than the bottom half of the population combined or 152 million people.
The study by the Institute for Policy Studies also found that America’s wealthiest 400, with a combined net worth of $2.34trillion, own more wealth than that of a staggering 194 million people – the bottom 61 per cent of the country combined.
Among the 20 wealthiest Americans are eight founders of corporations, nine heirs, two investors and a casino mogul.
The list includes Gates of Microsoft, Jeff Bezos of Amazon, Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook and four Waltons who are heirs of Wal-Mart.
The report, which was published on Tuesday, also found that instead of resembling a pyramid, America’s wealth distribution now resembles the shape of Seattle’s Space Needle.
‘The bulge at the top of our wealth “space needle” reflects America’s wealthiest 0.1 per cent, the top one-thousandth of our population, an estimated 115,000 households with a net worth starting at $20million,’ the study said.
‘This group owns more than 20 per cent of U.S. household wealth, up from 7 per cent in the 1970s.’
It added: ‘The higher up you go up our contemporary wealth ladder, the greater the imbalance.’
Co-authors of Billionaire Bonanza: The Forbes 400 and the Rest of Us, Chuck Collins and Josh Hoxie, have proposed policy interventions to help close this growing, extreme wealth gap.
One suggested solution is to close ‘wealth escape routes’ including offshore tax havens and private trusts.
‘Wealthy individuals are moving quickly to shift wealth into offshore tax havens and bury it in private trusts, avoiding accountability and taxation every step of the way,’ the study said.
A second proposed solution is to implement policies that will reduce concentrated wealth such as ‘seriously taxing our wealthiest households’.
They suggest to invest those founds to expand wealth-building opportunities across the economy.
According to the study, the median American family has a net worth of $81,000.
Findings in the study also showed that America’s wealthiest 100 households own about as much wealth as the nation’s entire African-American population combined.
The study also reported that there are only two African Americans among the Forbes 400, Oprah Winfrey and Robert Smith, and only five Latinos including Jorge Perez, Arturo Moreno and three members of the Santo Domingo family.
