Rich gain, poor lose: India's CEOs earn in hours what workers earn in a year

By Vikas Meshram 

The world today confronts a stark contradiction: a few thousand wealthy individuals conceal fortunes greater than the combined assets of half the global population. This is not simply inequality—it is a system where the rich play by different rules than ordinary citizens. Oxfam’s latest report exposes this imbalance with clarity.

The wealthiest 0.1 percent have hidden abroad more than the total assets of 4.1 billion people. Poverty persists not because money is scarce, but because it is concealed. While billions struggle for hospitals, schools, and jobs, the richest stash trillions in tax havens. 

In 2024 alone, $3.55 trillion was hidden—exceeding France’s economy and doubling the GDP of the 44 most vulnerable nations. 

Nearly 80 percent of this belongs to the richest 0.1 percent, with the top 0.01 percent alone concealing $1.77 trillion. As Oxfam’s Christian Hallum notes, this is not just tax evasion—it is power entrenched in inequality. When billionaires avoid taxes, ordinary people bear the burden.

This hidden wealth equals 3.2 percent of global GDP. Yet many developing nations remain excluded from tax‑information exchange systems, precisely where revenue is most needed. 

Oxfam demands stricter global taxation of the super‑rich, stronger cooperation against tax havens, and effective levies on the wealthiest one percent. The conclusion is clear: money exists, but it is hidden. If the rich paid honestly, governments would not lack funds for schools, hospitals, or social programs.

India mirrors this imbalance. Oxfam’s Labour Day report shows a CEO earns in four hours what a worker earns in a year. Across 50 countries, one billion workers lost wages averaging ₹56,000 ($685), amounting to a global loss of $746 billion. India’s top 150 CEOs earned an average ₹8.18 crore annually, even as companies cut worker wages. 

“Corporate bosses lecture employees about cuts while rewarding shareholders,” said Oxfam’s Amitabh Behar. Workers toil longer for less, widening the gulf between rich and poor.

Women face the harshest reality. They perform 4.6 lakh crore hours of unpaid work annually, and those employed earn less than men. The double burden of low wages and household labor forces many out of jobs. Meanwhile, taxes on capital gains fell to 18 percent, depriving public services of vital funding. 

In one‑fifth of countries, such taxes do not exist. The UN notes the richest 10 percent control 52 percent of income, while the poorest half hold just eight percent. Debt burdens deepen the crisis: Pew Research finds the global middle class shrank by 90 million, while poverty grew by 130 million.

The billionaire class has expanded to 2,668 individuals—563 more than in 2020—with combined wealth of $12.7 trillion, tripling since 2000. The ten richest alone hold more wealth than 3.1 billion people. The twenty richest surpass Sub‑Saharan Africa’s GDP. For the poorest half to match a single wealthy individual’s annual income, they would need to work 112 years. 

Rising food and energy prices have created 62 new billionaires in two years, while 193 million people face hunger. Cargill and two other firms now control 70 percent of global agriculture, profiting as food prices soar.

Wealth creation is not wrong. But in times of crisis, when billions struggle for survival, the unchecked rise of billionaire fortunes raises grave questions. Oxfam calls for taxing billionaire wealth, rejecting the failed “trickle‑down” theory. As its report argues, inequality is not natural—it is a political choice. There is no moral justification for immense wealth concentrated in so few hands while millions lack medicine and food.

Development cannot mean prosperity for a select few. Humanity’s future depends on bridging the gap between powerful and powerless. The rich must pay taxes honestly, global systems must curb secret accounts, and policies must center on the most deprived. Otherwise, reports will continue to document inequality year after year, while billions more vanish into hidden vaults.