How many barrels of oil can Bill Gates buy?

The combined wealth of the 500 richest people in the world amounts to $4.6 trillion. These people possess wealth exceeding the GDPs of every country in the world except the US and China.

Although significant losses on equity markets were anticipated after the unexpected election of Donald Trump as US president in November 2016, the major indices of world stock markets soon recovered and the value of the assets of the richest people in the world continued to grow.

It seems that billionaires are doing better and better. In the first two months of 2017, their accounts grew by $225 billion.