CounterPunch Exclusives

CounterPunch Exclusives

Wealth Inequality and California’s Wealth Tax Proposal

Image by Morgan Housel.

2025 was a year in which the ten wealthiest did quite well for themselves as did the rest of their cohorts among both the wealthiest .1% and the wealthiest 1%.

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the combined wealth of the wealthiest ten in 2025 reached $2,484 billion after growing 29.3% during the year with $187 billion of the increase of $563 billion going to just one individual, the lovable Elon Musk, whose individual wealth reached $619 billion.

Based on the Federal Reserve Board figures, the holdings of the wealthiest .1%, who consists of approximately 342,000 people, saw their wealth expand in 2025 over 12.8% or by $2.9 trillion going from $22.57 trillion to $25.47 trillion. Additionally, their share of the nation’s wealth grew .5% to a new record high of 14.5% since the figures began being calculated in 1989.

In 2025, the size of the wealth of the wealthiest 1% increased from $49.97 trillion to $55.92 trillion with their share of the nation’s wealth going from 31% to 31.9% while the share of the poorest 90% declined from 32.6% to 31.7%.

Trump has referred to Biden as “pathetic,” “sad,” “a disaster,” and “incompetent” who “didn’t know he was alive” who, as president, “did a terrible, terrible job.” However, Trump may look favorably upon what happened to the wealth of the wealthiest during Biden’s time in office.

For the wealthy, the time of Biden’s presidency was not “a disaster.” The wealthiest ten, based on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index saw their fortunes, in a mere four years, increase from $1.068 trillion at the beginning of 2021 to $1.968 trillion as of the end of 2024, by over 84%, during the “pathetic” and “incompetent” Biden administration.

According to the Federal Reserve Board, the size of the wealth of the wealthiest .1% from the end of 2020 to the last quarter of 2024 increased over 41%, in nominal dollars going from $15.99 trillion to $22.57 trillion, and their share of the nation’s wealth went from 13% to 14%.

Bigger Picture of Wealth Inequality

The increase in wealth inequality has been a trend for years. There are years in which the level of inequality has declined more than offset by the many more years in which it has increased. The U.S. Federal Reserve Board figures show that from the third quarter of 1989 until the end of 2025, the share of the country’s wealth held by the wealthiest .1% of the population increased over 60% from 8.6% to 14.5%. The share of the nation’s wealth held by the wealthiest 1% increased from 22.8% to 31.9%. During the same period, the share of wealth held by the poorest 90% of the population declined from 39.2% to 31.7% with the poorest 50% experiencing a decline from 3.5% to 2.5% though, since 1989, it has been as low as .4%.

In terms of nominal dollars, since 1989, according to the Fed, the wealth of the .1% increased from $1.76........

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