'Bill Gates could be the world's first trillionaire'

The world could see its first trillionaire in the next 25 years, and it is not difficult to guess that it could be Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates. According to a recent Oxfam report, the richest are accumulating wealth at such an astonishing rate that the world could see its first trillionaire in just 25 years.

In the report titled 'An economy for the 99 percent', Oxfam claims broken economies are funnelling wealth to a rich elite at the expense of the poorest in society, the majority of whom are women. The richest are accumulating wealth at such an astonishing rate that the world could see its first trillionaire in just 25 years.

According to the report, when Bill Gates left Microsoft in 2006, he had net wealth of $50 billion. A decade later this had increased to $75 billion, despite his commendable attempts to give it away through his Foundation. The fortune of Bill Gates has risen 50% or $25 billion since he left Microsoft in 2006.

"It is obscene for so much wealth to be held in the hands of so few when 1 in 10 people survive on less than $2 a day.  Inequality is trapping hundreds of millions in poverty; it is fracturing our societies and undermining democracy," said Winnie Byanyima, Executive Director of Oxfam International.

The report also claimed that eight richest men own the same wealth as the 3.6 billion people who make up the poorest half of humanity. The eight men include Bill Gates, Amancio Ortega, Warren Buffett, Carlos Slim Helu, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison and Michael Bloomberg.

Global financial services company UBS has estimated that in the next 20 years, 500 people will hand over $2.1 trillion to their heirs - a sum larger than the GDP of India, a country of 1.3 billion people.