3000 billionaires now hold more wealth than half the world, Oxfam flags ‘dangerous’ trend

Switzerland: Global billionaire wealth surged to a record high in 2025, according to a new report by charity Oxfam, which warned of “highly dangerous” political consequences as world leaders and business elites gather for the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos.

Oxfam said the combined wealth of the world’s billionaires jumped 16.2 percent in the first year of US President Donald Trump’s second term, reaching $18.3 trillion. The NGO attributed much of the rise to policies championing deregulation and weakening global efforts to increase corporate taxation.

The report noted that the world now has more than 3,000 billionaires for the first time, with the richest 12 individuals, led by Tesla and SpaceX chief Elon Musk, holding more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, around four billion people.

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Oxfam warned that growing concentrations of wealth are increasingly translating into political power, highlighting billionaire ownership of major media outlets, including Musk’s takeover of X and Amazon founder Jeff Bezos’s purchase of The Washington Post.

“The widening gap between the rich and the rest is creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable,” said Oxfam executive director Amitabh Behar.

Trump is expected to lead one of the largest-ever US delegations to Davos, where his presence is likely to dominate discussions officially framed around the theme “A Spirit of Dialogue”.

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His participation has also sparked protests, with around 300 demonstrators arriving in Davos on Sunday. Some wore masks depicting Musk or US Vice President JD Vance while criticising what they described as the lack of democratic accountability at the forum.

Oxfam pointed to Washington’s decision to exempt US multinationals from a globally agreed minimum corporate tax rate of 15 percent as a clear example of policies that deepen inequality.

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“In country after country, the super-rich have used their wealth to shape the rules that govern our economies,” the report said, warning that such influence undermines political freedom and erodes the rights of the wider population.