The world’s five richest people have more than doubled their collective wealth to $869 billion, from $405 billion, since 2020, as almost five billion people globally – 60 per cent of the world's population – have grown poorer, according to charity Oxfam International.
If each of the planet's five wealthiest men were to spend $1 million daily, they would take 476 years to exhaust their combined wealth, Oxfam said in its annual Inequality Inc report on Monday.
The world’s top five richest people are: Elon Musk with a net worth of $206 billion, Jeff Bezos ($179 billion), Bernard Arnault ($162 billion), Bill Gates ($149 billion) and Mark Zuckerberg ($135 billion), according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
At the current rate, it would take 230 years to end poverty – but the world could have its first trillionaire in 10 years' time, Oxfam said.
The report was released during the World Economic Forum meeting in Davos.
“As we enter 2024, the very real danger is that these extraordinary extremes are becoming the new normal,” Oxfam said.
“We are living through what appears to be the start of a decade of division: in just three years, we have experienced a global pandemic, war, a cost-of-living crisis and climate breakdown.
“Each crisis has widened the gulf – not so much between the rich and people living in poverty, but between an oligarchic few and the vast majority.”
The number of billionaires rose by 7 per cent globally last year to 2,544 from 2,376, while their collective wealth recovered by 9 per cent to $12 trillion from $11 trillion, according to a report by Swiss banking group UBS.
The world’s richest 1 per cent own 43 per cent of all global financial assets, according to the Oxfam report.
Globally, men own $105 trillion more wealth than women – the difference in wealth is equivalent to more than four times the size of the US economy, Oxfam said.
It would take 1,200 years for a female worker in the health and social sector to earn what a chief executive in the biggest Fortune 100 companies earns on average in one year, it added.
“Billionaires are now $3.3 trillion or 34 per cent richer than they were at the beginning of this decade of crisis, with their wealth growing three times as fast as the rate of inflation,” Oxfam said.
“The other big winners in this period of crisis are global corporations. The biggest firms experienced an 89 per cent leap in profits in 2021 and 2022.
“New data shows that 2023 is set to shatter all records as the most profitable yet. Eighty-two per cent of these profits are used to benefit shareholders, who are overwhelmingly among the richest people in every society.”
Seven out of 10 of the world’s biggest and publicly listed corporates have either a billionaire chief executive or a billionaire as their principal shareholder, the Oxfam report found.
Just 0.4 per cent of more than 1,600 of the world’s largest and most influential companies are publicly committed to paying their workers a living wage and support payment of a living wage in their value chains, the research showed.
Globally, 791 million workers have seen their wages fail to keep up with inflation and, as a result, have lost $1.5 trillion over the past two years, equivalent to nearly a month (25 days) of lost wages for each worker, it revealed.
“Women are vastly over-represented in the poorest-paid and least secure jobs, and in 2019, earned just 51 cents for every $1 in labour income earned by men,” the non-profit said.
To end extreme inequality, governments must radically redistribute the power of billionaires and corporations back to ordinary people, it recommended.
One way this could be achieved is through taxes. In October, research by the EU Tax Observatory research laboratory found that billionaires globally paid tax rates equivalent to zero per cent to 0.5 per cent of their wealth and are proportionally taxed far less than ordinary citizens due to their use of shell companies.
The observatory's Global Tax Evasion Report 2024 recommended a global minimum tax on billionaires, equal to 2 per cent of their wealth.
“We provide a first estimation of the revenue potential of this measure, showing that it would raise close to $250 billion (from less than 3,000 individuals) annually,” the report said.
“A strengthened global minimum tax on multinational companies, free of loopholes, would raise an additional $250 billion per year.”
Oxfam said it supports the idea proposed by US economist Joseph Stiglitz, who contributed to the Global Tax Evasion Report, that every nation should aim to reduce inequality to the point where the bottom 40 per cent of the population has around the same income as the richest 10 per cent.
Top 5 richest people in the world
- Elon Musk: $206 billion
- Jeff Bezos: $179 billion
- Bernard Arnault: $162 billion
- Bill Gates: $149 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg: $135 billion
Source: Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index
TOURNAMENT INFO
Women’s World Twenty20 Qualifier
Jul 3- 14, in the Netherlands
The top two teams will qualify to play at the World T20 in the West Indies in November
UAE squad
Humaira Tasneem (captain), Chamani Seneviratne, Subha Srinivasan, Neha Sharma, Kavisha Kumari, Judit Cleetus, Chaya Mughal, Roopa Nagraj, Heena Hotchandani, Namita D’Souza, Ishani Senevirathne, Esha Oza, Nisha Ali, Udeni Kuruppuarachchi
PREMIER LEAGUE FIXTURES
Saturday (UAE kick-off times)
Watford v Leicester City (3.30pm)
Brighton v Arsenal (6pm)
West Ham v Wolves (8.30pm)
Bournemouth v Crystal Palace (10.45pm)
Sunday
Newcastle United v Sheffield United (5pm)
Aston Villa v Chelsea (7.15pm)
Everton v Liverpool (10pm)
Monday
Manchester City v Burnley (11pm)
Herc's Adventures
Developer: Big Ape Productions
Publisher: LucasArts
Console: PlayStation 1 & 5, Sega Saturn
Rating: 4/5
Volvo ES90 Specs
Engine: Electric single motor (96kW), twin motor (106kW) and twin motor performance (106kW)
Power: 333hp, 449hp, 680hp
Torque: 480Nm, 670Nm, 870Nm
On sale: Later in 2025 or early 2026, depending on region
Price: Exact regional pricing TBA
FIGHT CARD
Fights start from 6pm Friday, January 31
Catchweight 82kg
Piotr Kuberski (POL) v Ahmed Saeb (IRQ)
Women’s bantamweight
Cornelia Holm (SWE) v Corinne Laframboise (CAN)
Welterweight
Omar Hussein (JOR) v Vitalii Stoian (UKR)
Welterweight
Josh Togo (LEB) v Ali Dyusenov (UZB)
Flyweight
Isaac Pimentel (BRA) v Delfin Nawen (PHI)
Catchweight 80kg
Seb Eubank (GBR) v Mohamed El Mokadem (EGY)
Lightweight
Mohammad Yahya (UAE) v Ramadan Noaman (EGY)
Lightweight
Alan Omer (GER) v Reydon Romero (PHI)
Welterweight
Ahmed Labban (LEB) v Juho Valamaa (FIN)
Featherweight
Elias Boudegzdame (ALG) v Austin Arnett (USA)
Super heavyweight
Roman Wehbe (LEB) v Maciej Sosnowski (POL)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Why are asylum seekers being housed in hotels?
The number of asylum applications in the UK has reached a new record high, driven by those illegally entering the country in small boats crossing the English Channel.
A total of 111,084 people applied for asylum in the UK in the year to June 2025, the highest number for any 12-month period since current records began in 2001.
Asylum seekers and their families can be housed in temporary accommodation while their claim is assessed.
The Home Office provides the accommodation, meaning asylum seekers cannot choose where they live.
When there is not enough housing, the Home Office can move people to hotels or large sites like former military bases.
The details
Colette
Director: Wash Westmoreland
Starring: Keira Knightley, Dominic West
Our take: 3/5
The biog
Birthday: February 22, 1956
Born: Madahha near Chittagong, Bangladesh
Arrived in UAE: 1978
Exercise: At least one hour a day on the Corniche, from 5.30-6am and 7pm to 8pm.
Favourite place in Abu Dhabi? “Everywhere. Wherever you go, you can relax.”
FA%20Cup%20semi-final%20draw
%3Cp%3ECoventry%20City%20v%20Manchester%20United%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3EManchester%20City%20v%20Chelsea%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E-%20Games%20to%20be%20played%20at%20Wembley%20Stadium%20on%20weekend%20of%20April%2020%2F21.%C2%A0%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
The biog
Hometown: Cairo
Age: 37
Favourite TV series: The Handmaid’s Tale, Black Mirror
Favourite anime series: Death Note, One Piece and Hellsing
Favourite book: Designing Brand Identity, Fifth Edition
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Read more from Aya Iskandarani
The biog
Hometown: Birchgrove, Sydney Australia
Age: 59
Favourite TV series: Outlander Netflix series
Favourite place in the UAE: Sheikh Zayed Grand Mosque / desert / Louvre Abu Dhabi
Favourite book: Father of our Nation: Collected Quotes of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan
Thing you will miss most about the UAE: My friends and family, Formula 1, having Friday's off, desert adventures, and Arabic culture and people
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
More from Neighbourhood Watch:
The five pillars of Islam
Griselda
%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EDirector%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%C2%A0Andr%C3%A9s%20Baiz%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarring%3A%C2%A0%3C%2Fstrong%3ESof%C3%ADa%20Vergara%2C%20Alberto%20Guerra%2C%20Juliana%20Aiden%20Martinez%3C%2Fp%3E%0A%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ERating%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%204%2F5%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Killing of Qassem Suleimani
Moonfall
Director: Rolan Emmerich
Stars: Patrick Wilson, Halle Berry
Rating: 3/5
Oscars in the UAE
The 90th Academy Awards will be aired in the UAE from 3.30am on Monday, March 5 on OSN, with the ceremony starting at 5am
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
KILLING OF QASSEM SULEIMANI
ESSENTIALS
The flights
Emirates flies from Dubai to Phnom Penh via Yangon from Dh2,700 return including taxes. Cambodia Bayon Airlines and Cambodia Angkor Air offer return flights from Phnom Penh to Siem Reap from Dh250 return including taxes. The flight takes about 45 minutes.
The hotels
Rooms at the Raffles Le Royal in Phnom Penh cost from $225 (Dh826) per night including taxes. Rooms at the Grand Hotel d'Angkor cost from $261 (Dh960) per night including taxes.
The tours
A cyclo architecture tour of Phnom Penh costs from $20 (Dh75) per person for about three hours, with Khmer Architecture Tours. Tailor-made tours of all of Cambodia, or sites like Angkor alone, can be arranged by About Asia Travel. Emirates Holidays also offers packages.
Winners
Ballon d’Or (Men’s)
Ousmane Dembélé (Paris Saint-Germain / France)
Ballon d’Or Féminin (Women’s)
Aitana Bonmatí (Barcelona / Spain)
Kopa Trophy (Best player under 21 – Men’s)
Lamine Yamal (Barcelona / Spain)
Best Young Women’s Player
Vicky López (Barcelona / Spain)
Yashin Trophy (Best Goalkeeper – Men’s)
Gianluigi Donnarumma (Paris Saint-Germain and Manchester City / Italy)
Best Women’s Goalkeeper
Hannah Hampton (England / Aston Villa and Chelsea)
Men’s Coach of the Year
Luis Enrique (Paris Saint-Germain)
Women’s Coach of the Year
Sarina Wiegman (England)
Mohammed bin Zayed Majlis
The five pillars of Islam
