It is pretty shocking and here is that interview now.
So the federal government. We had the Democrats just
passed a 1.9 trillion dollar covid relief bill because of
the pain and frankly that the suffering that many millions of
Americans are going through because of this pandemic
we have had more unemployment.
Continuous months of unemployment filings then we
did and I should say at numbers. They're that far
surpass the great recession of the financial meltdown in 2008.
However
there are some people
who are doing really well, I mean incredibly well and by
some people I mean really just a handful by handful, I mean
literally a handful. You could count them on your hand,
but they have made more than 360 billion dollars during this
pandemic what a welcome to the program Natasha Taek who she is
a Tech culture reporter for The Washington Post. Natasha that
that's pretty amazing that there could be such a small
group of people.
Man
who have made such an extraordinary fortune in such a
short period time would you tell us who who were talking
>> Sure it is names that you all already be familiar with.
about.
At the top of the list was your mask, who made a 118 billion
dollars kind of I'm pesident ID accumulation of wealth in just
one years time. Jeff pesos Mark zuckerberg Bill Gates because
founders of Google Larry page and Sergei brin you know it's
it's I eat most of their wealth accumulation during a time as
he said when some near suffering was really related to
their holdings in their stock holdings in companies like
tesla facebook Google yes,
do you buy their own from Microsoft and so is Larry
Ellison so yeah, it's it's it's some of the billionaires that
we're familiar with but we really surprised to see you
know when we crunch the numbers that they were all Tech barons.
>> How much, I mean relative to their existing fortunes.
I mean I you know like it's impossible to make conceived
118 billion dollars frankly and it is that is a law mosque is
that like is that a lot for a long mosque to make in a year I
would imagine it would be, but I mean how much money does the
law mosque have before he makes that 118 billion dollars during
the course of this past year.
>> Well he was really an exception his fortune quadruple
it so that is a massive amount of time and it was all because
of tesla's stock in ex-convicts case he made 29 billion and
that was that boosted him past see a 100 billion dollar mark.
But you want was was the biggest earner you know saw the
biggest rise in his network to the point where he was joking
with Jeff Bezos for the title of world's richest man and as
you said, yes, they are a moment.
>> That is an incredible amount of I do and what not so it's
all
based on the stock market or is it primarily based on the stock
market, I mean what what what was I mean they're not
necessarily just replace him.
Well I almost want to say they play some good bets. But I
think we should talk about that is still like you know of what
the chances of that those bets actually going South in this
environment work.
>> Right I should say you know this is money on paper as they
say, because it's tied to they're stock options and their
shares in it you know being majority shareholders and don't
share holders in these companies, however, you know as
you as you put it this is on top already being at the top of
the, you know world's richest billion years. List, so the you
know, even if it might fluctuate a little and we
already saw one of the top
years get kicked off of the list and Gilbert. You know from
a gamestop ask kind of short squeeze. But these people are
probably in the upper upper Eshelman to stay.
>> Right and we should also add that
there's it Jeff Bezos before he made. More billions this this
past year. I think it was a couple years ago said something
to the effect of like I don't even know what to do my money
maybe I got to go to Mars or something right.
>> Yet he and Elon or are both looking to states to you know
try to make their legacy and spend some of their wealth.
I mean you want case and said you know it's 3 states acts and
in business cases through blue origin spent. Yeah.
>> Just to give folks a perspective on how much money.
360 billion dollars is and this is amongst those 8 guys,
9 guys, 9.
360 billion dollars and again this is just how much their
wealth increased this past year not their total wealth right.
The
$1400 stimulus checks that went to
even after the means testing
went to about 86% of the country. The
equals 410 billion dollars of these 9 guys you made almost I
mean I guess it's 50 billion dollars, but you know when
you're at that point. I mean almost the same amount of money
that the government spent to bail out 80% of the country.
That's seems to be problematic. President.
>> Yes, I mean I think that the size the like this like just
kind of stupefied stagger staggering size of these
numbers has really shifted the parameters of the debate around
wealth distribution and even just this idea that we've had
that's a uniquely American idea about the netflix billionaires
rightly. Often times in the past. You know, I cover Silicon
Valley and you know folks say they would rather Bill Gates
have the money or Jeff bases have the money to allocate
capital because they're more efficient going to be better
than the government. But looking at the staggering sums
has really maybe people question especially in a time
of Lake great inequity whether or not you know so can now you
can put in quotes a bus and that's not you know something
that follows around other for profit industries, but it's
something it's a it's a it's a kind of worldview that these
Tech titans have cultivated you know since the late 1990's they
have kind of argue that the growth of their companies is in
and of itself a social good, I mean we've seen that from ceos
like Mark zuckerberg few taps out connecting the next
billion. You know we've seen that some folks ad on mask to
talk about the benefit to society of electric vehicles
and you know the would be reluctant comparing their
wealth accumulation would touch with how much they've donated
it kind of brought into contrast, how the kinds of
support the kinds of public programs that we needed to
actually deal with COVID-19 released just you know these
tech companies are are neither kind of capable where they
willing to invest in that you know they're not going after
not going to save us as as I went to my sources said it's
going to be of the best public response and that's lead to
some lawmakers like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren
Mich talking at this time about like a wealth tax and you know
questioning whether or not it's fair fair share. And an
executive like Jeff Bezos to have earned that much money
while his employees are struggling in fighting for
better pay protections.
>> I want to I want to dress the they're giving in this
concept of the benevolent billionaire in a moment but but