Despite COVID-19 havoc, billionaires continue to amass fortunes

On one hand, the global economy was rattled by the coronavirus pandemic, whereas on the other hand a new billionaire was added to the world every 17 hours.

The US-based Forbes magazine has added 493 new billionaires to its 2021 list. Of these, 210 are from China, Hong Kong and 98 are from the United States. Whereas, 61 persons who made it to the 2020 list were dropped from the 2021 list.

Among them is Kylie Jenner, a member of the famous Kardashian family and owner of a make-up company.

According to the list, despite the coronavirus pandemic causing havoc to the incomes of the common man, the wealth of the world's richest people reached $13.01 trillion up from $8 trillion recorded last year.

Amazon owner Jeff Bezos tops the list with $177 billion. The rise in Amazon's share price has added $64 billion to his fortune this year.

In second place is Elon Musk, owner of Tesla and SpaceX. His fortune has increased by a whopping $126.6 billion in one year. A year ago, he was ranked in the 31st spot with $24.6 billion. The main reason for the increase in Musk's wealth is a 705% increase in Tesla's share prices.

Bernard Arnold, the owner of the famous French products Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, and Sephora, is in third place. His fortune has more than doubled in the last year. His fortune has risen from $76 billion to $150 billion in the past year due to an 86% increase in his company's share price.

Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates sits at the fourth spot with a net worth of $124 billion. In fifth place is Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg. His fortune has risen from $42.3 billion to $97 billion after an 80 percent increase in Facebook's share price.