World's richest increased their wealth by $237 billion in 2016
Last edited Thu Dec 29, 2016, 06:23 AM - Edit history (1)
The world’s wealthiest 200 billionaires increased their net worth by $237 billion in 2016, taking their total wealth to $4.4 trillion as of the close of trading on Tuesday, an overall increase for the year of 5.7 percent, according to calculations by Bloomberg.
The major factor in the wealth increase is the surge in the US stock market since the election of Donald Trump on November 8, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average heading towards 20,000, an increase of close to 9 percent in seven weeks, or 69 percent on an annualized basis.
At the top of the rich list is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is $85.9 billion. As the Bloomberg report noted, without taking into account any interest payments or other wealth-enlarging factors, he would have to spend $2.3 million every day for the next 100 years to run down this vast fortune.
The biggest gainer for the year was Warren Buffet, whose investment firm Berkshire Hathaway saw its net worth increase by $11.8 billion, largely on the back of holdings in airlines and banks, whose stock values have soared since the election of Trump. His total wealth has risen to $74.1 billion, an increase of 19 percent for the year.
Read more: https://www.wsws.org/en/articles/2016/12/29/lead-d29.html
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Morons. 
the news and switched to bloomberg yesterday while they were making these announcements and it was sickening. They were positively gleeful that so much money had been made by the millionaires and billionaires. Giddy, I tell you. Giddy.
puke
