The wealth of the top US billionaires has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic, while the pandemic has led to a decline in economic growth and people's incomes.
According to The Washington Post, nine of the richest people in the US have increased their prosperity by a combined total of more than $360 billion in the past year.
SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk quadrupled his wealth as he challenged Amazon founder Jeff Bezos' status as the world's richest person.
In turn, the wealth of Facebook founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg topped $100 billion.
Meanwhile, Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin saw their fortunes jump to $65 billion together.
Moreover, Apple CEO Tim Cook became a billionaire after Apple's market capitalisation soared past the $2 trillion mark.
At the same time, the number of poor people is also increasing, and much more noticeably. According to the World Bank’s 2020 forecast, up to 150 million more people could end up in extreme poverty due to the pandemic.
