American billionaires got $434 bln richer during pandemic

America’s billionaires saw their fortunes soar by $434 billion during the U.S. lockdown between mid-March and mid-May, Report informs, citing CNBC.

Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg had the most significant gains, with Bezos adding $34.6 billion to his wealth and Zuckerberg adding $25 billion, according to the Report from Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies’ Program for Inequality. The Report is based on Forbes data for America’s more than 600 billionaires between March 18, when most states were in lockdown, and May 19.

The billionaire gains highlight how the coronavirus pandemic has rewarded the largest and most tech-focused companies, even as the economy and labor force grapples with the worst economic crisis in recent history.

The wealth of America’s billionaires grew 15% during the two months, to $3.382 trillion from $2.948 trillion. The most significant gains were at the top of the billionaire pyramid, with the wealthiest five billionaires -- Bezos, Bill Gates, Zuckerberg, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison -- seeing combined wealth gains of $76 billion.