Billionaires' fortunes grow, millionaires' dip over the past year
If you've been following this NHL lockout, or any other sports labour dispute of the past 30 years, you’re familiar with one derisive phrase.
“It’s millionaires versus billionaires.”
In technicality, this is correct; pro sports’ labour spats often pit millionaire players against billionaire owners, all in the quest of divvying up some exorbitant pie of cash. Truly, it is fans that are locked out, not players.
But while millionaires and billionaires are the same breed to the average consumer, they’re much different in the eyes of the world’s super wealthy.
Wealth-X is a firm that tracks the fortunes of the planet’s affluent, measuring wealth as it grows, or shrinks, year-to-year.
*Bing: Canada’s most famous billionaires
And what’s happened over the past 12 months?
According to Wealth-X’s latest report, millionaires have gotten poorer in the last year, while billionaires have padded their pockets in a big way.
By Wealth-X’s numbers, the total fortunes of people worth at least $30 million dipped over the past 12 months, dropping 1.8 per cent. That’s right, today they’re only worth a woeful $25.8 trillion combined.
The hardest hit were those worth between $200 million and $499 million, whose fortunes dropped a not-insignificant 11.4 per cent in the past year.
Of course, it’s much better being a billionaire.
Those with the largest fortunes in the world instead saw theirs grow over the past year, in stark contrast to their millionaire cousins.
According to Wealth-X, those with fortunes $1 billion or above saw their wealth grow 14 per cent.
Now there are 2,160 billionaires in the world, worth a total of $6.2 trillion. That’s more than 3.5 times the entire GDP of Canada.
By Jason Buckland, MSN Money
Posted by: SP | Sep 18, 2012 9:11:05 AM
Shock.. Horror...
Oh no, wait, This was pretty much to be expected.
The billionaires write the laws that everyone has to follow so it's only logical that the 2,200 Billionaires in the world are going to dictate how things go unless some group changes things.
It's happened before and it'll happen again.
The general population thinks they've got a chance, the millionaires think they're above the frey and the Top niche slowly bleeds everyone dry while the masses cheer their behaviour.
Case in point, Warren Buffet. He gambled with his banking investments and when it went sour the government bailed him out, while the people who's pensions were being plundered to make it happen, cheered the whole time for Saint Warren.
Meh... People don't learn
Posted by: Don | Sep 18, 2012 11:25:21 AM
Latin America: Billionaire Fortune Grows to $368 bln. Mexican mogul Carlos Slim's estimated fortune is almost as large as Ecuador's GDP.
Posted by: Ronald Fry | Sep 18, 2012 2:58:51 PM
Say it Ain't So!
As the middle class drifts into poverty, the millionaires drift into middle class. Fewer but wealthier for a while. Saddly these millionaires do not spend like the former middle class so their shelf life is literally a few years as opposed to decades.
The only way for the system to work is make sure the poor and the middle have enough money to spend on life and necessities. Robbing them of this is eventually going to bring down the house of cards. Millionaires depend of their spending and billionaires depend on the investment of millionaires. For the past several years we have been saving our way into a profit at the expense of the poor and the middle so now it is catching up. Looks good on you Rodney Rich Piggies, enjoy your fall.
Posted by: AO | Sep 19, 2012 9:37:00 AM
"Kill all the greedy and divide up their lands!" - Sumarian Proverb
Posted by: AM | Sep 19, 2012 3:05:39 PM
Greed is not a respector of persons... ie. even poor people can be greedy and being a billionaire does not mean you are greedy.
If you want something for nothing... if you feel entitled... if you have to have it now... if you bought it but can't afford it... perhaps you too have a little greed happening.
Have you helped someone in need lately?
Posted by: Mr. Negative | Sep 19, 2012 4:04:25 PM
Good For the billionaires. Getting richer from the sweat off our backs!
Must be nice. We do all the "real" work and they get richer every minute.
I hope one day to be in that position. Sitting around getting filthy stinking rich while my pee ons do all the work. (i will probably pay them less, so i can be the richest dip shit)
I don't want to discredit the rich as I am sure they work very hard and smart. Yes, they had good ideas and in some aspects had great innovation and have changed the world.
However, i challenge any one of these "self" made billionaires to do the work their employees do for them everyday by themselves, and see how far they get.
Point being - they keep getting richer and their employees keep getting poorer!