Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg witness massive gains in business despite Coronavirus crisis

The US billionaires witness wealth balloons with a rise of 15 percent to their businesses since Coronavirus outbreak, with Amazon’s Jeff Bezos and Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg seeing massive gains.

According to an analysis of data by two think-tanks, More than 600 US billionaires became more richer during imposed lockdowns with a rise of $434bn. While other millions of Americans suffer job losses and economic crisis.

Bezos’ wealth grew over 30pc to $147.6bn, while Zuckerberg’s business grew by more than 45pc to $80bn, according to the research by Americans for Tax Fairness and the Institute for Policy Studies’ Programme for Inequality. The analysis was based on data from Forbes billionaires list.

According to a report, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett saw comparatively paltry gains of 8.2pc and 0.8pc, respectively.

Amazon and Facebook stocks have spiked up following new program announcements that pushed their businesses ahead at a time when many consumers are stuck at home.

Job losses in the US have passed 36.8 million since business shutdowns began in mid-March to stop the spread of the deadly new disease.

Other data have shown a collapse in housing sales and a decline in manufacturing, as officials debate what additional steps will be needed to rescue the beleaguered economy.