(NewsNation) — Two years into a global pandemic that has changed life in so many ways, some American families are still struggling to recover. COVID-19 left behind physical and emotional wounds, and also many financial hardships, including the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.
But while the poor took a hit, the world’s richest became even richer. According to Forbes, some of the world’s richest people who run the biggest corporations saw huge profits, with their personal wealth growing immensely during the pandemic.
The report says that from 2020-2021, the wealth of Jeff Bezos grew $64 billion. As of Thursday, his net worth stands at $177 billion.
Elon Musk is now worth $151 billion, an increase of more than $126 billion. Right behind Bezos and Musk is Mark Zuckerberg at $97 million, who saw a $42 billion spike during the pandemic.
How does this happen? Government relief, in the form of the Payment Protection Program, served as a big source of capital for corporations during the pandemic.
“These are very natural forces, so to speak, that happen in a capitalist economy, where the owners of capital tend to benefit a lot as companies consolidate, technology grows and advances and one person, one company, is able to have a very large reach. Whereas if people are living paycheck to paycheck, they have no resources, they have no real way to accrue wealth. So money comes in and it goes out if you’re poor, whereas if you do have resources and access to capital, you can use that to your advantage to gain more and more capital over time,” data scientist Mickey Ferri said.
Some economists say the best thing is to get money into the hands of people, not companies. But in some cases, that didn’t happen with the Payment Protection Program.
“What we saw with PPP … about 87% of stimulus money went to companies whereas 13% went to individuals,” he added.
The net worth report comes as President Joe Biden proposes raising the corporate tax rate. He is aiming to increase the corporate tax rate from 21 percent to 28 percent, as well as add a 20 percent tax on top earners. If approved, the top earners move would impact an estimated 700 billionaires.