US billionaires got rich by $ 565 billion during the pandemic.

The last three months have been painful financially for many Americans - but not for billionaires.

US billionaires have earned $ 565 billion since March 18, according to a report published on Thursday by the Institute for Policy Studies.

According to the report, the total wealth of billionaires now stands at $ 3.5 trillion, an increase of 19% from the level at the start of the pandemic. Amazon boss (AMZN) Jeff Bezos alone is worth $ 36.2 billion more than on March 18.

Since that date, nearly 43 million Americans have applied for initial unemployment benefits. Lower-income workers, especially in the tourism and service industries, have been hit particularly hard by the health crisis.
These numbers explain the deep gulf between people who have and do not - which contributes to fueling unrest across the United States.

The acceleration in the wealth of the richest Americans has been fueled by the remarkable recovery in the stock market, which has largely skyrocketed due to the unprecedented actions of the Federal Reserve.
"Moving away from the real economy is exacerbating inequalities," said Kristina Hooper, chief world market strategist at Invesco.