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World’s billionaires get even richer during COVID-19 pandemic

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The coronavirus pandemic has made the super-rich around the globe even richer, according to a study by consulting firm PwC and the major Swiss bank UBS.

At the end of July, the total assets of the world’s more than 2,000 billionaires had risen to a record level of around 10.2 trillion dollars, according to the analysis, publishe on Wednesday.

This level surpasses the previous peak of 8.9 trillion dollars, reached at the end of 2017.

The increased wealth of the super rich came thanks in part to the recovery of stock markets, while investments in fast-growing areas such as technology and health care in particular proved to be drivers of wealth, according to the study.

There are currently 2,189 men and women who have fortunes of more than a billion dollars.

Cash, real estate and luxury goods as well as stocks and corporate assets were taken into account in assessing their fortunes, while liabilities were deducted.

In Germany, the net assets of the ultra-rich rose to 594.9 billion dollars by the end of July, following a slump at the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

The number of billionaires in the country grew from from 114 to 119 members.

For the report, UBS and PwC analysed data from 2,189 billionaires in 43 countries and conducted interviews with 60 billionaires.

Halima Sheji

NEWSVERGE, published by The Verge Communications is an online community of international news portal and social advocates dedicated to bringing you commentaries, features, news reports from a Nigerian-African perspective. A unique organization, founded in the spirit of Article 19 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, comprising of ordinary people with an overriding commitment to seeking the truth and publishing it without fear or favour. The Verge Communications is fully registered with the Corporate Affairs Commission of the Federal Republic of Nigeria as a corporate organization.

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