The Japan Times - New 'oligarchy' under fire as elites descend on Davos

The World Economic Forum kicks off in the Swiss Alpine resort on the same day as the presidential inauguration of Trump, who will not be in Davos but will make an online appearance later in the week.

Global charity Oxfam said in a report that Trump's election win and tax-cut plans are a boon to billionaires, whose combined wealth already grew by another $2 trillion last year to $15 trillion.

"Trillions are being gifted in inheritance, creating a new aristocratic oligarchy that has immense power in our politics and our economy," Oxfam said in its traditional annual pre-Davos report on the super rich.

The organisation echoed similar language used last week by outgoing US President Joe Biden, who sounded the alarm about an extremely wealthy oligarchy that "literally threatens our entire democracy".

Oxfam pointed out that Tesla and X owner Elon Musk helped to bankroll Trump's campaign.

"The crown jewel of this oligarchy is a billionaire president, backed and bought by the world's richest man Elon Musk, running the world's largest economy," said the charity's executive director Amitabh Behar.

"We present this report as a stark wake up-call that ordinary people the world over are being crushed by the enormous wealth of a tiny few," Behar added.

- Five trillionaires -

The report, titled "Takers Not Makers", found that 204 new billionaires emerged last year -- almost four every week -- to bring the total to 2,769.

Total billionaire wealth grew three times faster last year than in 2023, each billionaire seeing their fortune increase by $2 million per day on average. And, according to Oxfam, five trillionaires could emerge in a decade.

Trump's election "gave a huge further boost to billionaire fortunes, while his policies are set to fan the flames of inequality further", Oxfam said.

In the United States "we are in a situation where you can buy a country, with the risk of weakening democracy", said the head of Oxfam France, Cecile Duflot.

The world's three richest men will be at his inauguration: Musk, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos and Mark Zuckerberg, whose Meta empire owns Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp.

The tech trio is not expected in Davos, however.

- 'Tax the rich' -

Some 3,000 participants are expected at the Swiss ski village for the forum ending Friday -- including 60 heads of state or government and more than 900 CEOs -- for days of schmoozing and behind-the-scenes dealmaking.

A few hundred protesters blocked an access road to Davos on Sunday, holding banners reading "tax the rich" and "burn the system", and causing a traffic jam until police dispersed them.

"The WEF symbolises how much power wealthy people like me hold," said Austrian-German heiress Marlene Engelhorn, who gave away the bulk of her multi-million-euro inheritance to dozens of organisations working on social issues.

"Because just because we are born millionaires, or because we got lucky once -- and call that self-made -- we now get to influence politicians worldwide with our political preferences," she told AFP.

While Trump will not be in Davos in person, his presidency will dominate discussions. His plans to impose trade tariffs, loosen regulations, extend tax breaks and curb immigration will have far-reaching effects on the global economy.

He has named hedge fund manager Scott Bessent as his Treasury secretary, while billionaire businessman Howard Lutnick will head the Commerce Department.

Rising inequalities have fuelled debates about imposing a global tax on the super-rich.

"I don't want to live in a country with a few rich people and lots of poor people," said Morris Pearl, a former managing director at investment giant BlackRock. He is now a member of Patriotic Millionaires, a group that backs raising taxes on the rich.

"I'm afraid that we're going to have civil unrest if we don't change things," Pearl told AFP.

K.Yoshida--JT