A new report by Oxfam has shown that the ten richest men in the world have seen their wealth increase by half a trillion since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic a year ago. Meanwhile, many have lost their jobs with the unemployment rate peaking around 14%. The current unemployment rate is estimated to be 6.2%.

A recent report by Oxfam shows that “the world’s ten richest men have seen their combined wealth increase by half a trillion dollars since the pandemic began.” On the other hand, the majority of people have been ushered into “the worst jobs crisis in over 90 years with hundreds of millions of people now underemployed or out of work.” The report was titled “The Inequality Virus” and was published on the opening day of the World Economic Forum’s (WEF) ‘Davos Agenda.’

World’s Ten Richest People See Wealth Increase By Half A Trillion Dollars Since Beginning of COVID

While the coronavirus took jobs and houses from people, Elon Musk surpassed Jeff Bezos as the richest man in the world. Jeff Bezos increased his net worth by 20% thanks to a surge in Amazon sales, and Bill Gates quietly bought up farmland becoming the countries largest farmland owner.

The Richest men in the world have more than enough money to make some of our larger financial problems go away. The housing crisis, world hunger, you name it. To try and comprehend just how much money the richest men in the world have, check out this wealth comparison chart.

In a recent appearance on the New York Times podcast “Sway” with Kara Swisher, Elon Musk reported that neither he nor his children would be getting a coronavirus vaccine when it’s readily available. “I’m not at risk, and neither are my kids,” Musk said on Monday. Musk also called the national lockdown a “no-win situation” that has “diminished my faith in humanity”.

This statement from Musk comes after months of criticism on how the U.S has handled the virus and the lockdown. He has previously referred to the coronavirus as “dumb” and called widespread lockdowns “unethical” and referred to them as “de facto house arrest”.

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Alternatively, he has proposed that we try the targeted lockdown approach, putting anyone at risk on lockdown. Swisher said people could potentially die in response to Musk’s suggestion. “Everybody dies,” said Musk.

Bill Gates has recently claimed that Elon Musk does not know much about vaccines and suggested that he should stay out areas that he isn’t involved in. Musk later responded by saying “Hey, knucklehead, we actually make the vaccine machines for CureVac, that company you’re invested in.” Tesla manufactures equipment for CureVac, the German biopharmaceutical firm.

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Regardless of Musk’s knowledge of vaccines, he seems like a pretty intelligent guy, certainly capable of making the decision as to rather he and his own children should be vaccinated.

You can listen to Musk’s conversation with Kara Swisher here.

Tesla is set to restart full production in California this week after telling employees that they have the county’s full approval to start working again.

This is after Tesla founder Elon Musk reportedly sued Alameda county for claiming that they did not have the criteria to reopen. Musk threatened to move his Tesla base to Texas or Nevada where they would be allowed to work. The county has since approved Tesla’s work plan and safety measures.

Tesla’s vice president for environmental, health, and safety, Laurie Shelby, told employees that, following a visit by local authorities, “we have local support to get back to full production at the factory starting this upcoming week.”

Tesla Tells Employees It Has County Approval to Reopen Plant

Elon Musk tweeted out that he would be on the line with workers when production starts back up. Musk has also been very vocal about his disagreements with the virus restrictions through twitter.

Sources:

• Tesla Tells Employees It Has County Approval to Reopen Plant-Bloomberg News
• Elon Musk Reopens Tesla Plant in Defiance of California County– Bloomberg News

Earlier this week Elon Musk purchased 1255 FDA approved ventilators from Chinese manufactures. Tesla is currently in the process of getting them distributed and installed, in the midst of the Coronavirus pandemic. Tesla has also supplied 500,000 masks for health care workers. This occurred after Musk tweeted out that Tesla would manufacture ventilators if there was a shortage. 

We expect to have over ~1,200 [ventilators] to distribute this week. Getting them delivered, installed & operating is the harder part.

Musk via Twitter

Musk had previously been dismissive over the outbreak of the virus tweeting out “The Coronavirus panic is dumb” later clarifying that he believes the panic to be more dangerous than the virus itself. He later reported that Tesla is working on ventilators although it is not clear how long it will take to manufacture these ventilators, it could be months. 

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Other American companies such as Ford and General Motors have pledged to manufacture medical supplies at this time, however, they are still in the early stages of planning and have not actually begun manufacturing supplies yet. 

This is such a critical time for America and the world. It is a time for action and cooperation. By coming together across multiple industries, we can make a real difference for people in need and for those on the front lines of this crisis. At Ford, we feel a deep obligation to step up and contribute in times of need, just as we always have through the 117-year history of our company.”

Bill Ford, Ford’s executive chairman

Despite steps being taken by the companies, the president has not ordered these companies to manufacture medical supplies through the Defense Production Act, which was invoked on Wednesday, and the decision to manufacture medical supplies is up to the discretion of each company. 

Sources:

• Trump’s Claim That Ventilator Shortage Was “Unforeseen” Is False –The Intercept
• “Heroic Effort” Elon Musk Donates 1250 Ventilators to Hospitals -Futurism
• Ford works with 3M, GE, UAW to speed production of respirators for healthcare workers ventilators for coronavirus patients -Ford Media
• Coronavirus: Carmakers answer pleas to make medical supplies –BBC News

In JulyMusk stated that he wanted to help with the water contamination problem in Flint, Michigan. A tweet by Flint Community Schools indicates Musk is following through.

You’re most welcome. Hope to do more to help in the future.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 5, 2018

A day after this tweet the district announced that they received a $480,350 donation to pay for ultraviolet filtration systems in all 12 of Flint’s school buildings.

Related: Microplastics In Tap Water and Beer Around the Great Lakes, and Everywhere Else

Musk has also asked Flint residents to email their lead test results so he can add some water filters to the homes that need them.

“We are deeply grateful for the generosity and the budding partnership between Flint Community Schools, the Musk Foundation and Elon Musk. The new water filtration systems will be instrumental in helping our students return to the normalcy of what should be a fundamental right: having access to safe, clean water from water fountains in their school.” – Derrick Lopez, Flint Community Schools Superintendent

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoTTM2mejuU