Submitted by Mike Krieger via Liberty Blitzkrieg blog, Before I get into the meat of this post, I want to make it clear that the definition of oligarch, a term I use a lot, does not center solely around money. Late last year, in the post Inside the Mind of an Oligarch – Sheldon Adelson Proclaims “I Don’t Like Journalism,” I attempted to frame the word oligarch as I use it. I wrote the following: In a nutshell, while many oligarchs are extremely wealthy (or have access to extreme wealth), not all people with extreme wealth are oligarchs. The term oligarch is reserved for those with extreme wealth who also want to control the political process, policy levers and most other aspects of the lives of the citizenry in a top-down tyrannical and undemocratic manner. They think they know best about pretty much everything, and believe unelected technocrats who share their worldview should be empowered so that they can unilaterally make all of society’s important decisions. The unwashed masses (plebs) in their minds are unnecessary distractions who must to be told what to do. Useless eaters who need to be brainwashed into worshipping the oligarch mindset, or turned into apathetic automatons incapable or unwilling to engage in critical thought. Either outcome is equally acceptable and equally encouraged. With that out of the way, Five-Thirty-Eight provided the following: Eighty people hold the same amount of wealth as the world’s 3.6 billion poorest people, according to an analysis just released from Oxfam. The report from the global anti-poverty organization finds that since 2009, the wealth of those 80 richest has doubled in nominal terms — while the wealth of the poorest 50 percent of the world’s population has fallen. There you have it. The reason the wealth of the richest has doubled since 2009, is because “it’s not a recession, it’s a robbery.” Central bank and government policy has done this, it is no accident. For more evidence… Four years earlier, 388 billionaires together held as much wealth as the poorest 50 percent of the world. Thirty-five of the 80 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, with combined wealth of $941 billion in 2014. Together in second place are Germany and Russia, with seven mega-rich individuals apiece. The entire list is dominated by one gender, though — 70 of the 80 richest people are men. And 68 of the people on the list are 50 or older. Oxfam notes that global wealth inequality is increasing while the rich get richer. If trends continue, the organization projects that the richest 1 percent of people will have more wealth than the remaining 99 percent by 2016. Now here’s the list: 1 Bill Gates $76 USA Tech 2 Carlos Slim Helu $72 Mexico Telecom 3 Amancio Ortega $64 Spain Retail 4 Warren Buffett $58 USA Finance 5 Larry Ellison $48 USA Tech 6 Charles Koch $40 USA Diversified 7 David Koch $40 USA Diversified 8 Sheldon Adelson $38 USA Entertainment 9 Christy Walton $37 USA Retail 10 Jim Walton $35 USA Retail 11 Liliane Bettencourt $35 France Product 12 Stefan Persson $34 Sweden Retail 13 Alice Walton $34 USA Retail 14 S. Robson Walton $34 USA Retail 15 Bernard Arnault $34 France Luxury 16 Michael Bloomberg $33 USA Finance 17 Larry Page $32 USA Tech 18 Jeff Bezos $32 USA Retail 19 Sergey Brin $32 USA Tech 20 Li Ka-shing $31 Hong Kong Diversified 21 Mark Zuckerberg $29 USA Tech 22 Michele Ferrero $27 Italy Food 23 Aliko Dangote $25 Nigeria Commodities 24 Karl Albrecht $25 Germany Retail 25 Carl Icahn $25 USA Finance 26 George Soros $23 USA Finance 27 David Thomson $23 Canada Media 28 Lui Che Woo $22 Hong Kong Entertainment 29 Dieter Schwarz $21 Germany Retail 30 Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud $20 Saudi Arabia Finance 31 Forrest Mars Jr. $20 USA Food 32 Jacqueline Mars $20 USA Food 33 John Mars $20 USA Food 34 Jorge Paulo Lemann $20 Brazil Drinks 35 Lee Shau Kee $20 Hong Kong Diversified 36 Steve Ballmer $19 USA Tech 37 Theo Albrecht Jr. $19 Germany Retail 38 Leonardo Del Vecchio $19 Italy Luxury 39 Len Blavatnik $19 USA Diversified 40 Alisher Usmanov $19 Russia Extractives 41 Mukesh Ambani $19 India Extractives 42 Masayoshi Son $18 Japan Telecom 43 Michael Otto $18 Germany Retail 44 Phil Knight $18 USA Retail 45 Tadashi Yanai $18 Japan Retail 46 Gina Rinehart $18 Australia Extractives 47 Mikhail Fridman $18 Russia Extractives 48 Michael Dell $18 USA Tech 49 Susanne Klatten $17 Germany Cars 50 Abigail Johnson $17 USA Finance 51 Viktor Vekselberg $17 Russia Metals 52 Lakshmi Mittal $17 India Metals 53 Vladimir Lisin $17 Russia Transport 54 Cheng Yu-tung $16 Hong Kong Diversified 55 Joseph Safra $16 Brazil Finance 56 Paul Allen $16 USA Tech 57 Leonid Mikhelson $16 Russia Extractives 58 Anne Cox Chambers $16 USA Media 59 Francois Pinault $16 France Retail 60 Iris Fontbona $16 Chile Extractives 61 Azim Premji $15 India Tech 62 Mohammed Al Amoudi $15 Saudi Arabia Extractives 63 Gennady Timchenko $15 Russia Extractives 64 Wang Jianlin $15 China Real Estate 65 Charles Ergen $15 USA Telecom 66 Stefan Quandt $15 Germany Cars 67 Germán Larrea Mota Velasco $15 Mexico Extractives 68 Harold Hamm $15 USA Extractives 69 Ray Dalio $14 USA Finance 70 Donald Bren $14 USA Real Estate 71 Georg Schaeffler $14 Germany Product 72 Luis Carlos Sarmiento $14 Colombia Finance 73 Ronald Perelman $14 USA Finance 74 Laurene Powell Jobs $14 USA Entertainment 75 Serge Dassault $14 France Aviation 76 John Fredriksen $14 Cyprus Transport 77 Vagit Alekperov $14 Russia Extractives 78 John Paulson $14 USA Finance 79 Rupert Murdoch $14 USA Media 80 Ma Huateng $13 China Tech I didn’t provide this list to say whether these people are good or bad. I provide it, because whenever 80 people own as much as the poorest 50% of the globe, we sure better know who they are. We should also be cognizant of the disproportionate influence any of them can have on public affairs should they want to.