Could we really see the world's first trillionaire within 25 years?

Could we really see the world's first trillionaire in our lifetime? 

A new report on inequality published by Oxfam suggests Bill Gates could become a trillionaire in the next 25 years, however one critic has called the claim 'ludicrous'.

The 61-year-old Microsoft founder, who was the world’s youngest billionaire in 1987 at the age of 31, could be worth $1,000,000,000,000 by the year 2042, the report has claimed. 

However, economics expert Tim Wortsall, a Forbes contributor, argues that Oxfam’s claims are ‘ludicrous’.

Looking at the numbers, Wortsall explains: “In the proper jargon they are confusing a cycle in the economy with a structural feature of the economy. 

“Bill Gates to be world's first trillionaire soon? Most likely, in fact almost certainly, the answer here is 'No'," he concludes. 

He suggests Gates will actually be worth nearer to $133billion by 2042.

Gates, who has an estimated net worth of $84.7billion (£67bn), could become a trillionaire at the age of 86, Oxfam suggests.

Oxfam say the wealth held by the super-rich since 2009 has increased by an average of 11 per cent per year, using this average rate of growth to make its prediction.

“Once a fortune – or capital – is accumulated, it can grow quickly. The super-rich can achieve returns that are not available to the ordinary saver, helping the gap to grow between the wealthy and everyone else,” the report says.

“When Bill Gates left Microsoft in 2006



he had net wealth of $50bn. A decade later this had increased to $75bn, despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation.

“Global financial services company UBS has estimated that in the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1 trillion to their heirs – a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people.

“If these returns continue, it is quite possible that we could see the world’s first trillionaire within 25 years.”

The Oxfam report concludes that “eight billionaires own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who form the poorest half of the world's population”.

Mark Goldring, Oxfam GB Chief Executive, said: “This year's snapshot of inequality is clearer, more accurate and more shocking than ever before. It is beyond grotesque that a group of men who could easily fit in a single golf buggy own more than the poorest half of humanity.

“While one in nine people on the planet will go to bed hungry tonight a small handful of billionaires have so much wealth they would need several lifetimes to spend it. The fact that a super-rich elite are able to prosper at the expense of the rest of us at home and overseas shows how warped our economy has become.”

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