The Rich Get Richer

The other week, Billie Eilish stood in a room full of innovators and asked: “If you’re a billionaire, why are you a billionaire?” Nir Kaissar says this chart is the answer:

“Shares of Oracle, Amazon, Alphabet and Meta grew by more than 20% a year the past decade, including dividends. Tesla and Nvidia grew even faster, by 42% and 76%. At that rate, the leaders of these companies — already the world’s seven richest people — will very likely become trillionaires in the next three to five years,” he writes.

Meanwhile on planet earth, the rest of us are just hoping we can afford a roof over our heads. “The average age of a first-time homebuyer is now 40, up from 33 just a few years ago and 29 in 1981,” Allison Schrager notes.

Having a mortgage with your name attached to it used to be an important box to check for the American dream. But now, a lot of people just rent — including those who are financially successful. 

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