Musk leads the way as the ten richest Americans earn $365 billion in one year

By BM

Published on May 22, 2025 at 9:03 p.m.

Elon Musk during a meeting at the White House on April 30, 2025, in Washington. EVAN VUCCI/AP/SIPA

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The string of numbers is hard to digest. The 10 richest American men earned $365 billion in one year. That's $1 billion per day on average, or more than $40 million per hour, according to data aggregated Tuesday by the NGO Oxfam from data from the American magazine " Forbes ."

Among these 10 billionaires are mainly the biggest tech magnates: Elon Musk (head of X (formerly Twitter), SpaceX and Telsa), Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook, Instagram and WhatsApp), Jeff Bezos (Amazon), Steve Ballmer (former CEO of Microsoft) and the duo Sergey Brin and Larry Page (founders of Google).

Oxfam is releasing this study " as the US House of Representatives prepares to vote on a tax deal largely favorable to the ultra-wealthy ," it reads. Donald Trump just passed his budget bill in Congress on Thursday, May 22, with massive tax breaks. It must now pass the US Senate stage.

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The US president's budget plan will allow these billionaires to " make even more profits ," according to Oxfam. " Billionaires' wealth has increased astronomically, while ordinary citizens struggle to make ends meet," laments Rebecca Riddell, the NGO's head of economic and racial justice policy.

It actually took these ten richest men in the United States 12 months to earn $365 billion. On the other hand, it would have taken 10 " ordinary citizens "—as Rebecca Riddell calls them, meaning those with a median income in the United States—726,000 years to raise that much money.

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" We are witnessing the development of a tax plan that would create the world's first trillionaire ," continued Rebecca Riddell. Indeed, the richest man on the planet, Elon Musk, a close friend and advisor to Donald Trump , earned $180 billion over the last twelve months, according to Oxfam's tally.

Oxfam is thus fighting Donald Trump's budget plan. Instead, the NGO wants to " force the ultra-rich, Wall Street, and corporations to pay their fair share ," it reads. " By taxing the ultra-rich, we could invest in workers and families, and advance racial, gender, and climate justice," the NGO writes.