Oxfam: Food and energy tycoons made $1 billion every 2 days amid soaring inflation

Food and energy tycoons made $1 billion every 2 days amid soaring inflation while millions 'are skipping meals, turning off the heating': Oxfam

Soaring food and energy prices are hitting consumers the world over — but they have boosted the wealth of billionaires in these sectors by about $453 billion in the last two years, or about $1 billion every two days, according to Oxfam.

The surge in billionaires' fortunes comes as food and energy companies post record-high profits amid the pandemic, "even as wages have barely budged and workers struggle with decades-high prices," the UK-based nonprofit wrote in its latest report, released Monday.

"Five of the largest energy companies (BP, Shell, TotalEnergies, Exxon and Chevron) are together making $2,600 profit every second, and there are now 62 new food billionaires," according to Oxfam calculations.

Oxfam based its calculations on 310 billionaires on the Forbes Billionaires List in the food, agri-business, oil, gas, and coal sectors. Their combined wealth now is $1.5 trillion — up from over $1 trillion since March 2020.

https://www.businessinsider.com/food-energy-billionaires-richer-covid-ukraine-war-inflation-oxfam-inequality-2022-5