The number of billionaires has surpassed 3,000 for the first time, and the level of billionaire wealth is now higher than at any time in history. It is one thing for a billionaire to buy an enormous yacht or many luxury homes around the world. This excessive consumption can rightly be criticized in a deeply unequal world where the majority have very little. A world that can also not afford the carbon that comes with this excessive consumption. But many others would reject this criticism, describing it as the politics of envy. 

Yet far fewer people would disagree that when a billionaire uses their wealth to buy a politician, to influence a government, to own a newspaper or a social media platform, or to out-lawyer any opposition to ensure them impunity from justice, that these actions are inimical to progress and fairness. Such power gives billionaires a grasp over all our futures, undermining political freedom and eroding the rights of the many.