Trillionaire in 10 Years

​World will see first trillionaire in next 10 years

​A famous song and a quiz show ask, "Who wants to be a millionaire?" For decades, having a million dollars was the goal of the super-rich. Now, the goal is a billion dollars. The anti-poverty charity Oxfam has just issued a report that says in the next ten years, the world will have its first trillionaire. A trillion is a huge number and an unbelievable amount of money. It is a one, followed by 12 zeros. A trillion is equal to one million million. The charity said the wealth gap between the rich and poor is growing. It said the gap has been "supercharged" since the coronavirus pandemic. It added: "We will have a trillionaire within a decade, whereas to fight poverty, we need more than 200 years."

​Oxfam spoke about inequality at the World Economic Forum's annual meeting. As an example, it said the world's five richest people have seen their wealth increase by 114 per cent since 2020. A charity spokesperson said: "The top five billionaires have doubled their wealth. On the other hand, almost five billion people have become poorer." Tesla CEO Elon Musk is the richest man on the planet. He has a personal fortune of just under $250 billion. The AP news agency said: "If someone does reach that trillion-dollar milestone, he or she would have the same value as oil-rich Saudi Arabia." Oxfam said the world is now at the start of a "decade of division". It called for a "new era of public action" to reduce the wealth gap.

Multiple Choice

A well-known song asked about wanting to be a trillionaire

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

A trillion is a one, with 16 zeros after it

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Coronavirus made the gap between the richest and poorest bigger

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Oxfam said it would take 200 years to fight poverty

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

The top five richest people became $114 billion richer last year

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Five billion people in the world became richer last year.

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

Elon Musk is worth around a quarter of a billion dollars

• True

• False

Multiple Choice

A news agency said a trillionaire would be as rich as Saudi Arabia

• True

• False