The combined wealth of 10 men increased during the coronavirus pandemic by $540bn, Oxfam has found, the BBC reports.
This amount would be enough to prevent everyone in the world from falling into poverty because of the virus and pay for a vaccine for all, the NGO said.
Its report found the total wealth of billionaires was equivalent to the entire spending by all G20 governments on recovering from the virus.
The charity is urging governments to consider taxes on the super-rich.
The report, the Inequality Virus, has been published as global leaders gather virtually for the World Economic Forum’s “Davos Dialogue” meeting.
Unprecedented support from governments for their economies saw the stock market boom, driving up billionaire wealth while the real economy faces the deepest recession in a century, it says.
Worldwide, billionaires’ wealth increased by $3.9 trillion between 18 March and 31 December 2020 and now stands at $11.95tn – which is equivalent to what G20 governments have spent in response to the pandemic, the report says.
The 10 richest men were listed as: Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, Bernard Arnault and family, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Warren Buffett, Zhong Shanshan, Larry Page, and Mukesh Ambani.
The 10 richest people, whose fortunes rose by $540bn since March 2020, include Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, Tesla founder Elon Musk and Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg.
