On March 18, 2020, the United States registered its 150th coronavirus-related death while trying to gauge, along with most of the world, just what was happening. Major market indices fell 5 percent after jumping 6 percent the previous day. Spring breakers partied blithely in Florida while officials decided to close the border with Canada. And a statistical team at Forbes locked the numbers for our 34th annual ranking of the world’s billionaires, unwittingly creating a snapshot of global wealth at the precise moment the world lurched into its most disruptive 12 months since World War II.
Over the ensuing year, those 150 US deaths swelled to 550,000; some 3 million souls were lost worldwide. Tens of millions of jobs evaporated, along with hundreds of thousands of small businesses. Remote work went from exotic to standard. The suburbs went from dull to desired. The death of George Floyd triggered a reckoning concerning race and social justice. The presidential election tested democratic norms. Simultaneously, though, many individuals, industries, and investments thrived.
This story is from the May 07, 2021 edition of Forbes India.
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This story is from the May 07, 2021 edition of Forbes India.
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