Billionaires

Billionaire wealth jumped by over 16 per cent in 2025, three times faster than the past five-year average, to $18.3 trillion – its highest level in history, according to a new Oxfam report today as the World Economic Forum opens in Davos.

Europe’s wealthiest are driving the bloc’s emissions while ordinary Europeans make the steepest cuts.

As the EU scales back its climate ambition, new Oxfam research reveals the stark carbon inequality in the EU: Europe’s wealthiest are increasing their emissions, while ordinary Europeans have made the biggest cuts. The report highlights three key findings: Europe’s wealthiest are burning through our climate budget: the richest 10% of Europeans produce as much carbon as the bottom 50% combined. Carbon cuts are driven by ordinary Europeans, while Europe’s elite keep polluting: emissions have fallen. The bottom 50% of Europeans reduced their emissions by 27%, while the richest 0.1% increased theirs by 14%. To stay on the 1.5°C pathway, the EU must tackle the excessive emissions of Europe’s richest: everyone must cut their emissions, but the richest must go much further. The research shows that, to stay within the 1.5°C limit, the bottom 50% would need to cut their emissions in half, the top 10% by 90%, the top 1% by 97%, and the top 0.1% by 99%. 2024 was the first year that average global temperatures exceeded 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels. Yet, since the European elections, the EU has scaled back its climate ambitions, failing to submit its climate plan before the COP30 deadline and watering down climate legislation in the name of simplification. Oxfam calls on the EU to ramp up its ambition for emission reduction, with measures aimed at Europe’s wealthiest, to avoid a climate catastrophe and reduce climate inequality.

Ahead of COP30 in Belem, Brazil, new Oxfam research finds that the super-rich are blowing through the world’s remaining carbon budget.

Today, just four of Africa’s richest billionaires hold $57.4 billion in wealth — more than the combined wealth of 750 million people.

The 1,000 richest people on the planet recouped their COVID-19 losses within just nine months, but it could take more than a decade for the world’s poorest to recover from the economic impacts of the pandemic, reveals a new Oxfam report today. "The Inequality Virus" is being published on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s ‘Davos Agenda’.

New estimates show that just eight men own the same wealth as the poorest half of the world. As growth benefits the richest, the rest of society – especially the poorest – suffers. Our economy must stop excessively rewarding those at the top and start working for all people.

41 G7 energy billionaires have increased their wealth by $23.5 billion since the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran began, reveals new Oxfam analysis published ahead of the G7 summit in Evian, France.

41 G7 energy billionaires have increased their wealth by $23.5 billion since the unlawful US and Israel war against Iran began, reveals new Oxfam analysis published ahead of the G7 summit in Evian, France. This is equivalent to about $1,000 in the time it takes to blink. Billionaires globally have gained $9.8 trillion since 2020.

As Elon Musk’s personal fortune is expected to surpass $1 trillion with tomorrow’s SpaceX IPO, making him the world’s first trillionaire, a new Oxfam analysis reveals Musk would be richer than the poorest 46% of the world population, or 3.8 billion people, combined. Hitting $1 trillion would mean Musk’s wealth grew by over $550 billion over the past year, equivalent to an average rate of over $1 million per minute. According to Oxfam, such extreme concentrated wealth is symptomatic of decades of pro-billionaire politics that have allowed the ultra-rich to write economic rules in their favor.