Nine richest people in Bay Area wealth equal net worth of 1.8 billion peopleTop Stories

February 02, 2017 09:22

Nine richest people in Bay Area are worth the same as 1.8 billion of the world’s poorest people.

According to a recent report released by Oxfam in mid January before the annual Davos conference, it was found that an amount of $426 billion controlled by a group of the world’s eight richest people is equal to the wealth of half of the world’s population, about 3.6 billion people.

The executive director of Oxfam Winnie Byanyima said it is an obscenity that so much wealth was held in the hands of so few, when one in ten people survive on less than $2 a day.

He said "Inequality is trapping hundreds of millions in poverty; it is fracturing our societies and undermining democracy."

Among eight wealthiest people in the world, two are Bay Area residents; Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg and Oracle’s Larry Ellison.

If the wealth of top nine richest people in the Bay Area is added, it is roughly $213 billion according to a recent by Forbes. Which means the nine richest people from Bay Area holds more than the net worth of the poorest quarter of the world's population.

Mark Zucerberg and Larry Ellison and few other local billionaires are part of the “Giving Pledge”, where wealthy people promise to give away their majority of their wealth to charitable causes in their lifetimes or upon their deaths.

List of nine richest people in Bay Area

Mark Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan have already been very active donating their wealth in the Bay Area and beyond.
Mark-Zuckerberg
Age: 32
Residence: Palo Alto
Industry: Facebook
Net worth: $44.6 billion