An unprecedented wealth surge has accumulated historic levels of fortune in the hands of a minuscule minority. According to an analysis by economist Gabriel Zucman of UC Berkeley and the Paris School of Economics, only 19 U.S. households added $1 trillion to their net worth in 2024.
What Happened: This amount is larger than Switzerland’s entire economy. Tracked the distribution of U.S. household wealth over more than a century, demonstrating how the country’s richest citizens have rapidly hoarded wealth and widened the gap between themselves and the rest, The Wall Street Journal reported, citing Zucman’s analysis.
The top 0.00001% of American households, which includes those now worth at least $45 billion, increased their collective share of household wealth from 1.2% in 2023 to 1.8% by the end …