US billionaires add $434 billion to their fortunes during the pandemic

Jeff Bezos of Amazon and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Facebook enjoyed the largest gains in their fortunes. Bezos added $34.6 billion to his income while Zuckerberg had an additional $25 billion, according to data from the US Tax Equity Report and the Center for Policy Studies Plan for Inequality.

The study was conducted based on Forbes data for more than 600 billionaires in the United States between March 18 and May 19, when most states were locked.

The billionaire gains show how the coronavirus pandemic has rewarded the biggest and most tech-focused businesses, as the economy and the workforce struggle with the worst economic downturn in modern history.

Net worth of US billionaires increased by 15 percent over the two-month period, from $2,948 trillion to $3,382 trillion. The largest rises came at the top of the billionaire ladder, with the wealthiest five billionaires – Bezos, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison – seeing total profits of $76 billion.

Elon Musk had one of the highest multi-billionaire earnings in the two months, and his net worth jumped by 48% to $36 billion in the two months.

Zuckerberg stood behind, seeing his wealth rise by 46% in two months, to $80 billion, while Bezos' wealth rose by 31 percent to 147 billion dollars. His ex-wife, MacKenzie Bezos also saw her wealth increase by a third to $48 billion.

Since the timeline analysis shows the stock market bottom and a fast turnaround, it provides a slightly sunnier picture for billionaires than the full year.

For the year, Buffett 's income has decreased by $20 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire Index, while Gates is down by $4.3 billion. For the year, Jeff Bezos has raised $35.5 billion, while Zuckerberg is up $9 billion.

Source: CNBC