'The bailouts of banks, speculators and manufacturers served their real purposes:  the multi-millionaires became billionaires and the later became multi-billionaires.  According to the annual report of the business magazine Forbes there are 1,210 individuals – and in many cases family clans – with a net value of $1 billion dollars (or more).  There total net worth is $4 trillion, 500 billion dollars, greater than the combined worth of 4 billion people in the world.  The current concentration of wealth exceeds any previous period in history; from King Midas, the Maharajahs, and the Robber Barons to the recent Silicon Valley – Wall Street moguls of the present decade
               
An analysis of the source of wealth of the super-rich, the distribution in the world economy and the methods of accumulation highlights several important differences with major political consequences.  We will proceed to identify these specific features of the super-rich, starting with the United States and follow with an analysis of the rest of the world.'

Read more: The World's Super-Rich