US EditionBillionaires’ wealth hits record high in 2025 as political influence expands, Oxfam says
Oxfam finds billionaires' wealth rose by $2.5 trillion in 2025, with growing political influence via media ownership and campaign spending, threatening democratic processes.
- On Jan 19, Oxfam published its annual inequality report, saying global billionaire wealth hit a record $18.3 trillion in 2025 at the Davos World Economic Forum.
- Oxfam said US policy choices drove billionaire fortunes up 16.2% in the first year of President Donald Trump's second term, citing Washington's exemption from the 15 percent global minimum tax.
- Oxfam highlighted that more than 3,000 billionaires exist, with the top 12 owning more wealth than the poorest half of humanity, while Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Patrick Soon‑Shiong have acquired major media outlets.
- Oxfam urged governments to implement a wealth tax on assets above �10m, as Behar said `The widening gap between the rich and the rest is... creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable`.
- Oxfam added that billionaires are around 4,000 times more likely to hold political office and their $2.5 trillion rise in 2025 could eradicate extreme poverty 26 times over.
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160 Articles
The world's 3,000 richest people own as much as half of humanity, that is, 4.1 billion people. The fortunes of billionaires rose again by 16% in 2025 and reached
Oxfam Warns Record $18.3 Trillion in Billionaire Wealth 'Highly Dangerous' to Democracy
"Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable."
The wealth of the billionaires grew three times faster in 2025 than in previous years. Should wealth be taxed more strongly or wealth even limited?
At the World Economic Forum in Davos, the aid organization Oxfam publishes its annual report on inequality. According to this report, rising social poverty also means political poverty. Democracy worldwide is at risk.
Despite global crises, billionaires have quadrupled their assets since the beginning of the decade. In Germany, especially many people have been billionaires in the past year. In their current report, Oxfam strongly warns against political influence by the ultra-rich.
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