Stark Inequality Statistics

 

Jeff Bezos at the top of the pyramid with $180 billion

• The minimum net worth of the top 1% is roughly $11.1 million.
• A person would need to earn an average of $758,434 per year in order to join the top 1%. That's a far cry from the annual income of $38,923 reported by the average taxpayer (the bottom 90%). 
• The number of billionaires globally is around 2,755, and their numbers have been growing dramatically.
• Altogether, they are worth $13.1 trillion, up from $8 trillion on the previous year.
• In the United States continues to widen, with about 1.4 million people falling into the top 1%. Those who want to become part of the top 0.01% would need to make an average of $2,888,192 annually.
• North America's billionaires had more wealth at $3.5 trillion compared to $2.5 trillion of Europe's.
• China had 342 billionaires with a combined wealth of $1.2 trillion
• The top 1% earned nearly 21% of the total adjusted gross income in the U.S. 
• 'Wages' for the top 1% from 1979 to 2019 rose over 160%—compared to 26% for those in the bottom 90%.
• The widening gaps in wealth and income stem from a variety of factors, including the wealthiest's increasing dominance of public and private equity, and tax breaks.
• In 1962, the wealthiest 1% had net worths equal to approximately 125 times that of the average American household. Their net worths were shown to be approximately 225 times the net worth of the average household in 2009. The gap between the richest and the poorest more than doubled between 1982 and 2016.
• The minimum net worth of the top 1% is roughly $11.1 million. The top 10%, on the other hand, has a net worth of about $1.2 million.
•  Between 1970 and 2000; median income increased by 41% during this time at an annual average rate of 1.2%. From 2000 to 2018, the rate was 0.3%.
• The top 1%  own more than 50% of the equity in both private and public companies. And they've also benefited from surges in the stock market. These gains help them reinvest their money back into exclusive investments like hedge funds and private equity ventures.
• The growing disparity can be traced to tax breaks on income, gift, and estate taxes, as well as the decline of labor unions in America. Although the middle class also benefited somewhat from the reduction in taxes, it allowed the wealthy to retain a much greater portion of their assets and pass them on to their heirs.
• In the U.S., the share of the nation's wealth held by the top 1% increased from 23% to nearly 32% from 1989 to 2018.

Average Net Worth of the 1% (investopedia.com)