Forbes: 493 New Billionaires, 40 Got Rich Fighting COVID

The coronavirus pandemic caused factories to close, forced people out of work and resulted in economic recessions for much of the world. However, the health crisis also created a chance for 40 people to join the list of the world's richest.

Forbes magazine released its yearly list of the world's billionaires on Tuesday. The U.S.-based magazine found that even with the pandemic, 2020 was a "record-setting year for the world's wealthiest."

Forbes found that a record 493 people became billionaires last year, or about "one new billionaire every 17 hours." The list now has 2,755 billionaires. It is the most ever since the magazine started publishing the list 35 years ago.

The magazine found that the billionaires' wealth is worth about $13.1 trillion. That is nearly the size of the 2019 gross domestic product (GDP) of China, the world's second largest economy. And the number is as large as the combined GDPs of Japan, Germany, Britain and South Korea. That information comes from the World Bank.

Among the new billionaires on the Forbes list are 40 people who made their money from companies involved in fighting COVID-19. Some are connected to the vaccines² that they helped develop in record time. They included Ugur Sahin who helped create the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine¹ and Stephane Bancel of Moderna.

Some vaccine companies have been so successful that they produced several billionaires last year. Both American company Moderna and China's CanSino Biologics now have four billionaires each. CanSino developed a one-shot COVID vaccine that was approved by Chinese health regulators in February.

Others got rich, Forbes said, by making personal protective equipment, tests, antibody treatments and software to deal with COVID-19. All of them are needed to reopen the world's economies and return to normal life.

The richest of these new billionaires is Li Jianquan, Forbes said. He is the president of Chinese medical products manufacturer Winner Medical. The company makes face coverings and medical clothing for healthcare workers around the world. Li is said to be worth $6.8 billion.

Jeff Bezos of Amazon remains³ the richest person in the world with an estimated wealth of $177 billion. Several others join Bezos in the list of super-rich people with more than $100 billion. They include Elon Musk⁴ of Tesla and SpaceX with $151 billion, Bernard Arnault of the French luxury goods company LVMH with $150 billion and Microsoft's Bill Gates with $124 billion. Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg just missed the list with $97 billion.

The list of richest women also increased during the pandemic. There are now 328 women compared to 241 last year.

One of the richest women is MacKenzie Scott. She received $38 billion after her marriage to Jeff Bezos ended in 2019. The amount of money she has grew to $53 billion. During the pandemic, Scott became the world's biggest philanthropist. She gave away $5.8 billion last year to support activist⁵ groups for equality, education and public health.

Scott said she planned to give away most of her wealth.

Words in This Story

gross domestic products –n. the total value of the goods and services produced by the people of a nation during a year not including the value of income earned in foreign countries

regulator –n. an official who works for the part of the government that controls a public activity (such as banking⁶ or insurance) by making and enforcing rules

luxury –n. something that is expensive and not necessary

philanthropist –n. a wealthy person who gives money and time to help make life better for other people

1 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

2 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

3 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

4 musk   

n.麝香, 能发出麝香的各种各样的植物，香猫

参考例句：

• Musk is used for perfume and stimulant.麝香可以用作香料和兴奋剂。
• She scented her clothes with musk.她用麝香使衣服充满了香味。

5 activist   

n.活动分子，积极分子

参考例句：

• He's been a trade union activist for many years.多年来他一直是工会的积极分子。
• He is a social activist in our factory.他是我厂的社会活动积极分子。

6 banking   

n.银行业，银行学，金融业

参考例句：

• John is launching his son on a career in banking.约翰打算让儿子在银行界谋一个新职位。
• He possesses an extensive knowledge of banking.他具有广博的银行业务知识。