The combined wealth of the world’s mega-rich has rocketed by a record £3.6trillion during the Covid pandemic, a report reveals.
A new billionaire has been created every 26 hours since the start of crisis, the research found.
Meanwhile, 160 million people have been plunged into poverty, according to Oxfam.
And the wealth of the world’s 10 richest men, who include Amazon mogul Jeff Bezos and Tesla tycoon Elon Musk, has more than doubled since the pandemic erupted.
Oxfam’s study comes amid mounting calls for governments to impose wealth taxes on individuals and companies which have done well since early 2020.
Since then the number of billionaires has surged by 565 to 2,755.
Much of the reason is stock markets booming, which tends to benefit the better off who hold much of their wealth in stocks and shares.
The slashing interest rates to all-time lows has also boosted those with certain assets and fuelled a company takeover frenzy.
And tech giants such as Amazon and Apple have seen their already gargantuan stock market values hit record highs on the back of booming sales from lockdown hit households.
According to Oxfam, if the 10 richest men were to lose 99.999% of their combined wealth tomorrow, they would still be richer than 99% of people on the planet.
The 10 richest men in the world own more than the bottom 3.1 billion people.
If they spent a million dollars each a day, it would take them 414 years to spend their combined wealth.
A 99% windfall tax on their gains during Covid could pay to make enough vaccines for the entire world and still leave plenty to fill financing gaps in climate measures, universal health and social protection.
More than 160 million more people are living on less than $5.50 a day than when the pandemic began, the report found.
Oxfam GB chief executive Danny Sriskandarajah said: “The explosion in billionaire’s fortunes lays bare the fundamental flaws in our economies.
“Even during a global crisis our unfair economic systems manage to deliver eye-watering windfalls for the wealthiest but fail to protect the poorest.
“Today’s generation of leaders can start to right these wrongs by implementing progressive taxes on capital and wealth and deploying that revenue to save lives and invest in our future."
