The 10 wealthiest people in the U.S. collectively became around $1 billion richer every day last year—equivalent to the money 10 average workers would take 726,000 years to earn.
Analysis by Oxfam based on data from Forbes puts sharp attention on inequality in the U.S. and President Donald Trump‘s “one big, beautiful bill” which stands to make the richest richer still.
The House’s Reconciliation Bill, as it is officially known, would put an end to more than $1 trillion in support for the average American with the savings used to offset an extension in Trump’s 2017 tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
Food stamps, green energy tax breaks and Medicaid coverage are among the supports for average Americans set to be rolled back by the bill to facilitate the tax breaks, The Washington Post reported.
“We’re seeing a tax code being designed that would bring about the world’s first trillionaire,” Rebecca Riddell, senior policy lead for economic and racial justice at Oxfam America, said. “Even amid the upheaval caused by Trump’s economic mayhem, billionaire wealth has increased astronomically while so many ordinary people struggle to make ends meet.”
Riddell’s analysis suggests that if the estimated $1 billion-a-day wealth gains were taxed like income from work, the top 10 richest Americans would together owe $135 billion in tax—enough to cover the entire federal rental assistance budget for a year nearly three times over.
Oxfam’s analysis, which tracked the wealth increases for the top 10 richest Americans from April 2024 until April 2025, found that Elon Musk was the recipient of over 50 percent of the net financial gain. The SpaceX and Tesla CEO saw his net worth increase by $186 billion with Oxfam saying he is on track to become the world’s first trillionaire.
Walmart heir Rob Walton and Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg saw their net worth increase by $38 billion each, while investor Warren Buffett gained an extra $34.8 billion and Walmart heir Jim Walton gained $36.5 billion.
The Trump administration is working to push through the 1,000 page Reconciliation Bill, which also covers immigration issues, despite divisions over its content.
Representatives have raised concerns over the fallout from the proposed legislation after the nonpartisan Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget said the bill would add about $3.3 trillion to the deficit.
The White House has insisted that the bill would not add to the deficit.
Rep. Thomas Massie described the claim that the bill won’t add to the deficit as “a joke.” “We’re going to add $20 trillion to the debt over the next 10 years, which is three and a half to $5 trillion more than would have been added otherwise,” the Republican told CNN’s Manu Raju on Tuesday.
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