The new billionaire playbook: Half of all wealth is now self-made
by The Economist · Australian Financial ReviewThe Economist
Jul 27, 2026 – 8.00pm
Billionaires have never exactly been popular, but today they are loathed. Politicians in America’s Congress talk about them far more than ever before, usually to decry their ill-gotten gains or their malign influence on politics, or to insist that their wealth needs taxing.
Fundraising emails from Democrats are three times as likely to mention billionaires – and almost always negatively – as they were in 2024, according to Andrew Hall of Stanford University. “Every billionaire is a policy failure” is a common cry from the left, linking members of the 10-figure club with a rigged economy and social decay.
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