Overview
- Oxfam reports billionaires added about $2.5 trillion in 2025 alone, a gain nearly equal to the total wealth of the world’s bottom half.
- Billionaires are roughly 4,000 times more likely than average citizens to hold office, with 74 of 2,027 serving in executive or legislative posts in 2023.
- The study says a majority of major media companies and all leading social platforms are owned or controlled by billionaires, amplifying elite influence over public debate.
- In Latin America and the Caribbean there are 109 billionaires with a combined $622.9 billion, and their fortunes grew 16 times faster than the regional economy as tax systems remain highly regressive.
- Citing recent policy shifts, including in the United States, Oxfam urges wealth and inheritance taxes, stricter campaign-finance rules, stronger platform oversight and expanded social protections.