I love looking through Rich Lists.
Do you? 
Forbes Billionaire’s List for 2020 shows a broad cross-section of the world’s billionaires, including those from Australia.
In the last year, the wealth controlled by the world’s top 10 billionaires has jumped by over $76Billion.
And what about the Coronavirus crash?
Well it seems that many of the world’s richest people have seen their wealth surge to new heights despite the havoc created by COVID-19.
This first infographic from Visual Capitalist highlights their stratospheric wealth in the current economic climate.
The following table shows the fortunes of the world’s 10 richest people, comparing the numbers from March 5, 2019 to the most recent data from April 22, 2020.
| Rank | Name | Net Worth 2020* | Net Worth 2019* | Change 2019-2020 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Jeff Bezos | $145B | $131B | +$14.1B |
| #2 | Bill Gates | $104B | $97B | +$7.1B |
| #3 | Bernard Arnault & Family | $92B | $76B | +$15.5B |
| #4 | Warren Buffett | $73B | $83B | -$9.1B |
| #5 | Mark Zuckerberg | $69B | $62B | +$6.5B |
| #6 | Larry Ellison | $66B | $63B | +$3.4B |
| #7 | Steve Ballmer | $63B | $41B | +$21.3B |
| #8 | Amancio Ortega | $61B | $63B | -$2.2B |
| #9 | Larry Page | $58B | $51B | +$7.6B |
| #10 | Jim Walton | $57B | $45B | +$12.0B |
| Total Change | +$76.2B |
Source: Forbes – *As of April 22, 2020 **As of March 5, 2019
Gaining the highest across the top 10 is former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer, who saw his fortune rise over $21 billion since March 2019.
Over the same period Warren Buffett's net worth has dropped over $9 billion over the past year.
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Meanwhile, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg’s fortune is holding steady.
The COVID-19 Response
As the global economy contends with a loss of confidence and job losses, some of the world’s richest people are stepping up to the plate.
Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey is donating roughly 25% of his net worth to COVID-19 in the form of Square stock, valued at $1B.
His donation, which was placed in a donor-advised fund called Start Small LLC, is more than four times higher than any other billionaire. That said, after the pandemic, Dorsey also stated that this money may also go towards girl’s health and education, as well as universal basic income (UBI).
| Rank | Name | COVID-19-Related Donation | % of Net Worth |
|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Jack Dorsey | $1B | 25.6% |
| #2 | Bill & Melinda Gates | $255M | 0.2% |
| #3 | Azim Premji | $132M | 2.2% |
| #4 | Andrew Forrest | $100M+ | 1.2%+ |
| #5 | Jeff Bezos | $100M | 0.1% |
| #6 | Michael Dell | $100M | 0.4% |
| #7 | Lynn Schusterman, Stacy Schusterman | $70M | 2.1% |
| #8 | Amancio Ortega | $68M | 0.1% |
| #9 | Nicky Oppenheimer | $54.5M | 0.7% |
| #10 | Johann Rupert | $54.5M | 1.1% |
*As of April 15, 2020
Overall, 77 of the world’s billionaires have made public contributions related to the COVID-19 pandemic, just a fraction of the world’s ultra-rich.
Source: Visual Capitalist
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