The number of American millionaires has dropped by 4.5 percent as the new coronavirus continues to rattle the global economy, Bloomberg reports, citing marketing research firm Spectrem Group.
There were 11 million households in the United States with a $1-million-plus net worth by the end of 2019; their wealth has been growing thanks to the American market’s longest bull run in history, which lasted for 11 years and officially ended this month. That number is estimated to have dropped by at least 500,000 by last Friday.
Meanwhile, the pandemic has erased almost $1.3 trillion from the world’s 500 richest people since the start of the year, or almost a fifth of their collective net worth. That number includes $433 billion from the 180 Americans on the list.
The crisis is thought to have had particularly devastating effect on real estate and banking, which are especially reliant on investments from high net-worth individuals.
In case you’re worried about the wealth of the top 1 percent, don’t be: since the ultra-rich mostly keep their money in equities and not in cash, a stock market recovery would return things to where they were before the pandemic.
On Tuesday, US stocks already made historic gains (not factoring in the report) on the news of a Senate compromise over a $2-trillion coronavirus emergency aid package.
