RIO DE JANEIRO, Jan. 22 (Xinhua) -- The five richest men in Brazil have a fortune as large as the income of half the Brazilian population, almost 104 million people, according to an Oxfam report released on Monday.
The Oxfam report, released at the World Economic Forum in Davos, showed that the number of billionaires in the world grew at a pace never seen before, and there are currently 2,043 billionaires in the world.
However, the enrichment of a few was not accompanied by rising economic conditions of the rest of the population, and inequality continues to run rampant in the world.
According to the report, 82 percent of all the wealth in the world is concentrated in the hands of the richest 1 percent of the population. In the meantime, over half of the world's population has an income of 2 to 10 U.S. dollars per day.
In Brazil, the number of billionaires jumped from 31 to 43 in one year, reaching record-high figures. The growth reflects the return of some billionaires in the past who had taken losses with the recent crisis.
Seventy-eight-year-old Jorge Paulo Lemann is the richest man in Brazil, with an estimated fortune of 95.3 billion reals (29.8 billion dollars). He is one of the owners of the 3G Capital fund, which has participation of huge companies like Inbev, Kraft Foods and Burger King.
Lemann is followed by banker Joseph Safra, also 78-year-old, from the Safra Bank, with an estimated fortune of 71.1 billion reals (22.2 billion dollars). Marcel Herrmann Telles and Carlos Alberto Sicupira, both from 3G Capital, rank third and fourth, with estimated fortunes of 47.7 and 40.7 billion reals (14.9 and 12.7 billion dollars) respectively.
Eduardo Saverin, from Facebook, ranks fifth with 29.3 billion reals (9.1 billion dollars). At 35 years old, he is the only name in the list younger than 67.
