On Tuesday, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) criticized billionaires' surging wealth amid rising financial strain for U.S. households.
Sanders Says Billionaires Are Soaring Ahead
Sanders took to X and alleged that the country's richest tech leaders have amassed enormous fortunes while millions of Americans fight to cover basic expenses.
He pointed to the massive wealth gains of Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk, Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) CEO Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle Corp (NYSE:ORCL) CTO Larry Ellison and Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) founder Jeff Bezos since Donald Trump returned to the White House.
"Meanwhile, 60% of Americans live paycheck to paycheck, food & housing costs soar and AI is killing jobs," Sanders wrote.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Musk is now worth $449 billion, Zuckerberg $229 billion, Ellison $259 billion and Bezos $256 billion — each logging substantial gains this year.
Ellison has added more than $66 billion year to date, while Zuckerberg is up more than $21 billion.
Bank of America Data Shows Financial Pressure On Working Families
While Sanders said 60% of Americans are living paycheck to paycheck, Bank of America's November analysis puts the share at 24% — still a significant portion of households.
The report, which examines spending across tens of millions of BofA customers, defines paycheck-to-paycheck living as households using 95% or more of their income on necessities like housing, groceries, gas, child care and utilities, leaving little room for discretionary spending or saving.
The report adds to growing signs of a K-shaped economy, with affluent Americans pulling ahead while lower- and middle-income households fall further behind.
Lower-income Americans are feeling the sharpest squeeze. Nearly 29% of households in this group are now living paycheck to paycheck, up from 28.6% in 2024.
Middle- and higher-income households have seen little change.
Wage Growth Slows As Inflation Stays Stubborn
Bank of America researchers say the trend is largely driven by slowing wage growth among lower-income workers. After sizable gains in 2021 and 2022, wages cooled in 2023 and 2024 and began lagging further this year.
Inflation hasn't offered relief. Prices rose 3% year over year in September, while after-tax wages grew just 2% for middle-income workers and 1% for lower-income earners in October.
Meanwhile, Geoffrey Hinton, the "godfather of AI," warned in September that AI could deepen inequality by replacing workers and driving profits to the wealthy, arguing the issue stems from capitalism rather than the technology itself.
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Disclaimer: This content was partially produced with the help of AI tools and was reviewed and published by Benzinga editors.
