- Optimism over Facebook’s TikTok rival has pushed the stock to peak
- Zuckerberg’s fortune has surged by $22 billion this year
- The 36-year-old joins fellow tech titans Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates as the only people in the world who currently have centibillionaire status
- Zuckerberg has said he plans to give away 99% of his Facebook shares over his lifetime.
- The collective wealth of tech billionaires has nearly doubled since 2016, from $751 billion to $1.4 trillion according to Bloomberg’s index. ( a ranking of the world’s 500 richest people)
- U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, plans to introduce legislation to tax what he called “obscene wealth gains” during the coronavirus crisis.
Face book Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
The mind-boggling accumulation of money underway in technology is unrivaled in speed and scale. No other group of executives has prospered to such a degree. Indeed, the world’s richest people are growing even richer, even faster, as the coronavirus pandemic upends the global economy and drives ever more activity online.
Mark Zuckerberg’s net worth passed $100 billion for the first time Thursday after Facebook Inc. hit a record high on optimism about the release of its TikTok competitor Reels.
The 36-year-old joins fellow tech titans Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates as the only people in the world who currently have centibillionaire status, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index. Zuckerberg’s fortune is largely derived from his 13% stake in Facebook.
The founders of America’s largest technology companies have enjoyed a mind-boggling accumulation of wealth this year as the conronavirus pandemic drives more people online, despite the U.S. economy contracting at its fastest pace on record. Zuckerberg has gained about $22 billion this year, while Bezos is up more than $75 billion.
The staggering numbers have put Big Tech under increased scrutiny, with Zuckerberg, Bezos, Apple Inc. Chief Executive Officer Tim Cook and Alphabet Inc. head Sundar Pichai testifying before Congress last month to defend allegations that their power and influence are out of control.
Image Photo by Morning Brew on Unsplash
The five largest American tech companies — Apple, Amazon.com Inc., Alphabet, Facebook, and Microsoft Corp. — currently have market valuations equivalent to about 30% of U.S. gross domestic product, nearly double what they were at the end of 2018.
U.S. gross domestic product was $19.408 trillion for the second quarter of 2020.
U.S. GDP
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, meanwhile, plans to introduce legislation to tax what he called “obscene wealth gains” during the coronavirus crisis.
“The legislation I am introducing today will tax the obscene wealth gains billionaires have made during this extraordinary crisis to guarantee healthcare as a right to all for an entire year,”
At a time of enormous economic pain and suffering, we have a fundamental choice to make. We can continue to allow the very rich to get much richer while everyone else gets poorer and poorer. Or we can tax the winnings a handful of billionaires made during the pandemic to improve the health and well-being of tens of millions of Americans. In my view, it is time for the Senate to act on behalf of the working class who are hurting like they have never hurt before, not the billionaire class who are doing phenomenally well and have never had it so good.”
Senator Bernie Sanders
The “Make Billionaires Pay Act” would tax 60% of the increase in the ultra-wealthy’s net worth from March 18 through the end of the year and use the revenue to cover out-of-pocket health-care expenses of all Americans.
The Make Billionaires Pay Act would still leave America’s billionaires with more than $310.1 billion in wealth gains during the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression. However, under the legislation:
— Jeff Bezos, the richest man in America, would pay a one-time wealth tax of $42.8 billion.
— Elon Musk, whose wealth has nearly tripled during the pandemic, would pay a one-time wealth tax of $27.5 billion.
— Mark Zuckerberg, the co-founder of Facebook, would pay a one-time wealth tax of $22.8 billion.
— The Walton family, the wealthiest family in America, would pay a one-time wealth tax of $12.9 billion.
As a result of Trump’s tax giveaway to the rich, these billionaires currently pay a lower effective tax rate on average than teachers or truck drivers.
Americans are having cold feet over their Obscene wealth
Many of such concerns culminated into a hearing held by video conference which featured Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, the CEOs of Apple Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
lawmakers had played Devil’s advocate hence berating the tech giants on amassing much obscene wealth during the pandemic whilst the majority languished and Power brokers were left in a quandary.
“In the 19th century, we had the Robber Barons. In the 21st century, we’ve got the ‘Cyber Barons, And we want to make sure that the extraordinary power and wealth that you’ve been able to amass is not used against the interests of democracy and human rights around the world and not against the free market at home.”
Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, told the CEOs during the hearing
That may come with a cost:
“This is going to make the domination of tech companies over the economy and our social lives much worse, and it’s going to significantly accelerate the trend toward greater automation,” Acemoglu said.
Tech’s rapid ascent may deepen inequality, shrink the number of good jobs, and weaken democracy.
Such concerns could help shift Big Tech and its billionaires into the cross-hairs of governments whose finances have been devastated by the pandemic. Heading into this year’s U.S. presidential race, Elizabeth Warren and Sanders proposed wealth taxes on billionaires, an idea that polled well with voters.
Many of such concerns culminated into a hearing held by video conference which featured Tim Cook and Sundar Pichai, the CEOs of Apple Inc. and Google parent Alphabet Inc.
lawmakers had played Devil’s advocate hence berating the tech giants on amassing much obscene wealth during the pandemic whilst the majority languished and Power brokers were left in a quandary.
“In the 19th century, we had the Robber Barons. In the 21st century, we’ve got the ‘Cyber Barons, And we want to make sure that the extraordinary power and wealth that you’ve been able to amass is not used against the interests of democracy and human rights around the world and not against the free market at home.”
Representative Jamie Raskin, a Maryland Democrat, told the CEOs during the hearing
Tech companies overseas are also having a jamboree amid the pandemic
Tencent Holdings Ltd. CEO Pony Ma has added $17 billion, taking his fortune to more than $55 billion, while the wealth of Pinduoduo Inc.’s Colin Huang has gained $13 billion to $32 billion.
India’s Mukesh Ambani has become $22 billion richer as the digital unit of his Reliance Industries Ltd. got investments from firms including Facebook and Silver Lake. He’s now worth $80.3 billion.
