The world’s 10 richest men have seen their global wealth double to $1.5tn (£1.01tn) since the start of the global pandemic following a surge in stock prices and real estate that has widened the gap between rich and poor, according to an Oxfam report.

Urging governments to impose a one-time 99% wealth tax on windfall Covid-19 gains, the charity said World Bank figures showed an additional 163 million people had been driven under the threshold of poverty while the super-rich benefited from the stimulus provided by governments around the world to mitigate the impact of the virus.

Oxfam predicts that by 2030, 3.3 billion people will live on less than $5.50 a day.

The charity said the incomes of 99% of the world’s population fell from March 2020 to October 2021, when Elon Musk, the founder of electric car company Tesla, and the other nine richest billionaires s were collectively enriched by $1.3 billion a day. .

Musk, according to figures taken from Forbes magazine’s billionaires list, saw his wealth increase 10-fold to $294 billion in the first 20 months of the pandemic, catapulting him above Jeff Bezos, the founder of ‘Amazon, to be the richest person in the world.

During a period of skyrocketing tech stocks on Wall Street, Bezos’ net worth rose 67% to $203 billion, Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg’s wealth doubled to $118 billion, while Microsoft founder Bill Gates’ wealth rose 31% to $137 billion. .

The charity has urged governments to levy taxes on capital and wealth in a report – Inequality Kills – meant to coincide with the now-postponed gathering of the global elite at the World Economic Forum in Davos.

Oxfam said a windfall tax of 99% on the Covid wealth gains of the 10 richest men could pay for enough shots to vaccinate the world and provide the resources needed to fight climate change, provide health care universal health and social protection, and addressing gender-based violence in 80 countries. Even after a 99% drawdown, the top 10 billionaires would be $8 billion better off than they were before the pandemic, the charity said.

Danny Sriskandarajah, Chief Executive of Oxfam GB said: “The explosion of billionaire fortunes at a time of rising poverty exposes the fundamental flaws in our economies. Even during a global crisis, our unjust economic systems manage to deliver eye-popping bargains to the richest but fail to protect the poorest. It is a preventable tragedy that every day people are dying because they lack essentials such as food and health care.

“Today’s generation of leaders can begin to right those wrongs by implementing progressive taxes on capital and wealth and deploying those revenues to save lives and invest in our future. They must ensure that the long-term legacy of Covid-19 is quality universal health care and social protection for all. Governments have a historic opportunity to support bold economic plans based on greater equality that change the deadly path we are on.

Stock prices fell sharply in the first weeks of the pandemic, but were then boosted by stimulus provided by central banks and finance ministries around the world. Cuts in interest rates to historic lows and massive increases in the money supply through the bond-buying process known as quantitative easing sent stock markets higher, with tech companies such as Amazon, Google, Apple and Facebook spurred by an increase in work from home and online shopping during the pandemic.

While people with lower incomes have also seen their assets rise in value during the pandemic, Oxfam said the top 10 men held six times the wealth of the bottom 40% ($3.1 billion). people). It would take the 10 billionaires 414 years to spend their combined wealth at the rate of $1 million each per day, the charity added.

The threat posed by inequality was highlighted last week by World Bank President David Malpass when he announced his organization’s latest forecast for the global economy.

“Developing countries face serious long-term challenges related to declining immunization rates, global macroeconomic policies and debt burdens,” he said.

“There is a growing chasm between their growth rates and those of advanced economies. This inequality is even more dramatic in terms of per capita and median income, with people in developing countries being left behind and poverty rates rising. We are witnessing disturbing reversals in poverty, nutrition and health.