Four Indians in richest 62 whose wealth equals 50% of world's population

Showing the widening global wealth gap, in 2015, wealth amassed by 62 richest people of the world was found to be equivalent to the wealth held by 50% of the world's population -- 3.6 billion people -- an Oxfam America report has said. 

In a tweet, Buzzfeed journalist gave the list of these 62 people:

People asking the names of the 62 who own as much as 3.6 billion people (src: https://t.co/rNhHY5bCj1). Here you go: pic.twitter.com/CtllN4G7xw

— James Ball (@jamesrbuk) January 18, 2016

Interestingly, four out of 62 are Indians-- Mukesh Ambani, chairman of Reliance Industries, Azim Premji, chairman of Wipro, Dilip Shanghvi, promoter of Sun Pharma, Pallonji Mistry, shareholder of Tata Sons.

ALSO READ: Mukesh Ambani retains his position as India's richest person for ninth consecutive year

Since 2010, the report said, the wealth of the poorest people has declined by 41% and the wealth of these 62 richest people has gone up to $1.76 trillion.

Talking about the reason behind the gap, Raymond C. Offenheiser, President of Oxfam America said, “Power and privilege are being used to rig the system to increase the gap between the richest and the rest of us to levels we have not seen before. 

"Far from trickling down, income and wealth are instead being pulled upwards at an alarming rate. While such extreme inequality is bad for all of us, it’s the poorest among us who suffer the grimmest consequences."

In the past one year, the gap between the rich and the poor has widen dramatically. The rich have become richer, and the poor, poorer. In 2015, at World Economic Forum, the company predicted that the 1% would soon own more than the rest of the world, a prediction that came true even before the year ended.

One of the key points the report noted for this imbalance can be attributed to the fall in share of the national income going to workers in almost all the developed and most developing countries, and a widening gap between pay at the top and the bottom of the income scale.

According to the report, tax havens are one of the key reason for the inequality as large corporations and rich people escape paying their taxes. 

Globally, it is estimated that a total of $7.6 trillion of individual’s wealth sits offshore – a twelfth of the total. If tax was paid on the income that this wealth generated, an extra $190 billion would be available to governments every year, the report added.

Further, in the US, since 2009, the salaries of top CEOs have hiked by 50% but the ordinary wages have hardly moved, as the minimum wage has been stuck at $7.25. Having mentioned that, since then the cost of lifestyle has increased and groceries have surged by 25%.

“Raising the minimum wage would not only help millions of Americans, but it would also pump money into the local economy and save billions in taxpayer dollars by reducing the number of low-wage workers receiving federal assistance,” said Offenheiser.