this post was submitted on 01 Jan 2026
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Just eight billionaires accounted for a quarter of the gains, led by Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison and Larry Page

The richest 500 individuals in the world added a record $2.2tn to their wealth in 2025, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, with just eight billionaires accounting for a quarter of the gains.

The gains increased their collective net worth to $11.9tn, bolstered by billionaire Donald Trump’s 2024 election victory and booming markets in cryptocurrencies, equities and metals.

Around a quarter of the gains were attributed to eight billionaires, including Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Oracle chair Larry Ellison and Alphabet Inc co-founder Larry Page, though 2024 saw more concentrated net worth gains with the same eight billionaires making up 43% of total net worth gains for the wealthiest 500 individuals in the world.

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[–] phoenixz@lemmy.ca 5 points 3 hours ago

So when are we finally going to stop this, stop the billionaires?

We need laws that put hard caps on ownership and personal wealth. Nobody should be able to have a net worth of over, say, 10 million dollars. Any income over that should be taxed 100% until the person goes below the 10 million line

We done even need different economic systems, capitalism works well to generate wealth, that is fine, we just need to put rules on where that wealth goes.

With taxes, that is a simple fix.

Imagine if you will, if nobody can be worth over 10M, and companies het similarly capped at, say, 1 billion.

You have a company worth 1 billion? You can't have a single owner because of the 10M cap. You'll end up with many ay more smaller companies or bigger companies with loads of small share holders. Companies can compete and grow but the perverse incentives of endless growth would be gone. Companies can finally focus on the end consumers again, and make better products

Meanwhile governments get a huge tax influx, that can be used to fund independent investment foundations that help new startups with funding and professional help to get your new company started

That tax money could be used as well to fund free healthcare, free education, maybe even universal income. We could eradicate the poor.

People could stop focusing on survival and start focusing on living and loving.

I dunno, there are loads of details missing, of course, but this sounds like something doable.

[–] kent_eh@lemmy.ca 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

And how much did they contribute back to the countries that allowed them to amass that ridiculous amount of wealth?

[–] SoleInvictus@lemmy.blahaj.zone 3 points 4 hours ago

Haha, you're funny

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 5 hours ago)

Well it’s sure starting to look like guillotine thirty

[–] Janx@piefed.social 1 points 5 hours ago

Gee, wonder where it came from.

[–] tym@lemmy.world 2 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (2 children)

everyone started dreaming while their sourdough starter fermented - then luigi happened and the gloves came off.

I'm personally exhausted by all the talk with no general strike action - individualism killed the democracy star (USA is actually a republic but nobody's ready to have that conversation)

Aaron Russo was ahead of his time (and got got as a result IMO): https://odysee.com/AmericanFormOfGovernment:6

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

Every "conservative" I've ever talked to is ready to explain the federal reserve, democracy vs republic and some other generally useless information considering the potus is a felonious rapist.

[–] tym@lemmy.world -3 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

What an individualistic reply. You're exactly the type of person who needs to watch that video. It's not very long and does a great job at explaining why democracy (majority rules) is dangerous. Probably best not to assign everyone you meet to one of the two oligarch parties, too.

[–] Bakkoda@lemmy.world 1 points 3 hours ago

I only know they are "conservative" because they can't shut the fuck up about it. IMO it's a guilty conscience but honestly i don't care

[–] Formfiller@lemmy.world 3 points 5 hours ago* (last edited 4 hours ago)

Nazi’s and facists are far left?lol this is propaganda and misinformation. You really believe that being “represented” by people who are literally owned by Israel and the oligarchs is better than democracy? Look around that’s easy to debunk. Believing this nonsense would be a good example of falling into the tankie mindset.

[–] AlternatePersonMan@lemmy.world 24 points 12 hours ago

If I mathed right, that's roughly $8,800 per U.S. citizen. That is truly fucked up.

Parasites masquerading as geniuses.

[–] fonix232@fedia.io 77 points 19 hours ago

"Added" my ass. They STOLE $2.2tn from the working people. They literally took it out from the mouths of starving families, struggling single mothers and fathers, while providing little to no value for all their greed.

[–] AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 36 points 19 hours ago (1 children)

Hoarding currency is a mental illness.

[–] BoJackHorseman@piefed.social 11 points 15 hours ago (1 children)
[–] Splanda@sh.itjust.works 3 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago)

"Plastic surgery can fix that right up. Don't worry, it's on the house"

[–] ReallyActuallyFrankenstein@lemmynsfw.com 30 points 20 hours ago (2 children)

At this point reality needs a maximum high score. Like, you make $100 billion and the arguments about taxes just stop, you just literally do not make any more money, because why.

What good society would allow this? When seen what it is - literally human life turned into currency through effort - I find it hard to explain letting one person horde this much without using the word "evil."

[–] Deceptichum@quokk.au 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago)

Ditch the score entirely. Let’s cooperate instead of compete.

[–] Witchfire@lemmy.world 22 points 18 hours ago (2 children)

Every year society should take the top 3 billionaires and forcibly redistribute all of their wealth. Let them fight each other for #4

[–] P1nkman@lemmy.world 4 points 13 hours ago

The Billionaire Games. I like it.

[–] AnchoriteMagus@lemmy.world 10 points 16 hours ago (1 children)

I like where your head's at.

[–] velindora@lemmy.cafe 8 points 13 hours ago

I like where their heads will roll to.