Current Events > American billionaires got $434 billion richer during the pandemic

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https://www.cnbc.com/2020/05/21/american-billionaires-got-434-billion-richer-during-the-pandemic.html

Americas billionaires saw their fortunes soar by $434 billion during the U.S. lockdown between mid-March and mid-May, according to a new report. The billionaire gains highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has rewarded the largest and most tech-focused companies, even as the economy and labor force grapples with the worst economic crisis in recent history.
According to the report, the net worth of Americas billionaires grew 15% during the two-month period, to $3.382 trillion from $2.948 trillion. The biggest gains were at the top of the billionaire pyramid, with the richest five billionaires -- Bezos, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison -- seeing combined wealth gains of $76 billion. Elon Musk had among the largest percentage gain of billionaires during the two months, seeing his net worth jump by 48% in the two months to $36 billion. Zuckerberg was close behind, seeing his wealth surge by 46% in the two months, to $80 billion. Bezos wealth increased by 31% to $147 billion. Bezos ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos, who received Amazon shares in their divorce, also saw her wealth increase by a third, to $48 billion.

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what I dont get is how these guys in tech became richer when everyones working from home and not coming in to work

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awesome a new billionaire topic that will containg the same back and forth arguments i was hoping for one of these today

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Now, is that good?
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Well good they earned every single one of those dollars by working hard

I mean, that's how stocks work

<img src="" />

For real though, I'm not sure what the point TC is trying to make is
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Tech companies stayed up while people stayed at home using tech. What did you expect?

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I mean, it's kinda understandable since the majority of them are tech moguls and we're reliant on their products, so they get better ad revenue and people are buying their stocks.

Not saying it's right, just saying it ain't surprising.

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Tech companies have crammed 3 years of growth into 3 months because of the virus, and all the "gains" have been from the owners of those companies. Tesla has almost tripled in value since March, that is why Elon Musk is at the top.

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The Trent posted...

awesome a new billionaire topic that will containg the same back and forth arguments i was hoping for one of these today

The sad part is that its a back and forth argument to begin with. Imagine being a billionaire like no one on this site is even close to, and reading posts defending you. Id laugh my ass off

@The Trent posted...

awesome a new billionaire topic that will containg the same back and forth arguments i was hoping for one of these today

Legit though, you should shut the fuck up cause you were trolling the coronavirus threads pretty hard talking about "how scary it is" in sarcastic tones before shit popped off. Now that it's been confirmed to be devastating, you ghosted.

Go get a life, my dude.

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This shows that we can keep the economy shut down until a vaccine due to the real benefits of trickle down economics

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AzNDarkSamurai posted...

what I dont get is how these guys in tech became richer when everyones working from home and not coming in to work

In Bezos' case everyone is buying things on Amazon since stores are closed.
In Zuckerberg's case, being stuck at home has led to a massive increase in social media activity.

I assume Gates, Buffett, and Ellison gains are probably mostly from stocks.

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AzNDarkSamurai posted...

what I dont get is how these guys in tech became richer when everyones working from home and not coming in to work

their companies are cornerstones of the internet or they donated to corona relief

Elon Musk helped with face masks and medical supplies, Tesla lost 3.1 billion but he gained 8.1

Amazon everyone is ordering from, doesn't need to be explained

Bill Gates microsoft, everyone has a computer, workplaces are using teams, everyones using zoom for random stuff which explains Yuan

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Eat More Beef posted...

@

Legit though, you should shut the fuck up cause you were trolling the coronavirus threads pretty hard talking about "how scary it is" in sarcastic tones before shit popped off. Now that it's been confirmed to be devastating, you ghosted.

Go get a life, my dude.

i remember that it was pretty hilarious

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Xenagos posted...

Finally somebody called him out on it

feel free to
i'm still not scared and not living in fear even if you'd prefer that

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emblem boy posted...

I mean, that's how stocks work

<img src="" />

For real though, I'm not sure what the point TC is trying to make is

He's trying to villainize billionaires by saying they got richer while everyone else suffered.

Funny thing is all they did is get money from investors. None of these complainers fed their wealth at all other than getting entertained at home by tech companies.

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How much did their net worth drop from mid February to mid March?

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I've got my 60k shit heap home in the south so this doesn't bother me. Stop being jealous of rich people and go make something of yourselves. Everyone knows the only reason this would bother someone is jealousy (cuz I'm secretly jealous of all rich people and assume that's the only reason people complain about them)

@The Trent posted...

feel free to
i'm still not scared and not living in fear even if you'd prefer that

It's not about living in fear, but the fact you downplayed something for trollolz that became a pandemic.

Shut the fuck up.

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i'd like to believe i've somehow come out of this a little richer due to buying crashed stocks and bitcoin holdings more than doubling but god knows what this has done to local real estate values

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VVALLBOUNCE posted...

The sad part is that its a back and forth argument to begin with. Imagine being a billionaire like no one on this site is even close to, and reading posts defending you. Id laugh my ass off

This, lmao. It's fucking hilarious how many people lick the boots of people who don't give a fuck about you.

That's less than what the government spent on stimulus checks.

What's the point of this topic?

The corporate greed was bad enough thirty years ago, but people could keep a little bit of what they earned back then. This is going from greed to avarice overnight.

emblem boy posted...

I mean, that's how stocks work

<img src="<img src="" />" />

For real though, I'm not sure what the point TC is trying to make is

Like, is TC trying to talk about taxes, stock market valuations, or just trying to make people mad?
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Eat More Beef posted...

@

It's not about living in fear, but the fact you downplayed something for trollolz that became a pandemic.

Shut the fuck up.

Sorry man
We can still be friends if you'd like

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The Trent posted...

Sorry man
We can still be friends if you'd like

Nope.

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Shut up kids! Goddamn every topic is arguing about the past. Get off mah interwebs!

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Eat More Beef posted...

Nope.

Thats a shame
I still think you're okay

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Secretly posted...

This, lmao. It's fucking hilarious how many people lick the boots of people who don't give a fuck about you.

Why is this a go to argument? Most of the arguments made online don't make it to the person you're talking about. Do you think women care you won an argument online about abortion lol?

Most of these arguments just come from disagreeing with what a person has said or is implying. In this case, I'm saying the billionaires didn't steal any money from you so chill, and stop spreading lies.


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This is my argument against shutting down every small local shop and allowing Walmart's pockets to get fatter. Am I more likely to catch COVID with 900 of us reaching over each other for toilet paper at Sam's Club, or at the bike shop with like 6 other people?

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Billionaires get richer during pandemic = good economy stop hatin stonk is well

but also

poor people get poorer during pandemic = bad economy open up the country die for the economy

Both are happening at the same time.

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The Trent posted...

awesome a new billionaire topic that will containg the same back and forth arguments i was hoping for one of these today

damn bro must suck to be forced to post in topics you dont want to

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s0nicfan posted...

In Bezos' case everyone is buying things on Amazon since stores are closed.
In Zuckerberg's case, being stuck at home has led to a massive increase in social media activity.

I assume Gates, Buffett, and Ellison gains are probably mostly from stocks.

The gains of all 5 are from stocks. That's what their wealth is made of.

Gates and Ellison lead massive software companies, who are naturally benefiting from the remote working boom. Warren seems to be mostly included because he's among the top richest people. While he has benefited from the overall stock market rebound, the corona situation overall has left him in the negatives.

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ZeldaMutant posted...

While he has benefited from the overall stock market rebound, the corona situation overall has left him in the negatives.

Well this also gets at this key unanswered question from earlier:
EndOfDiscOne posted...

How much did their net worth drop from mid February to mid March?

If the entire point of picking mid-march to mid-may and selling it as "the rich getting richer during the pandemic" is because if you go back to January you'd see they took massive losses, than the entire article/topic is just shameless hate mongering.

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Imagine if they dumped those stocks at this time.

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