Covid Billionaires - A taxonomy

 The Covid 19 pandemic has created many billionaires and substantially increased the wealth of many already wealthy individuals and families. There have been many innovations and events in history that have introduced us to people who became wealthy because of the innovation or event. Triggers from 'mass manufacturing' to  'personal data poachers' and the latest Covid19 pandemic!

   Here are some types of millionaires/billionaires created by the pandemic 

1. Nouveau  Covid Rich - Those who seized the Covid19 business opportunities and were spot on i.e. ready and on time at the right place!  This list consists of those who were not very rich before the pandemic and who saw their fortunes turn for the much better due to the pandemic. This list consists of mask manufacturers in china, ventilator manufacturers who could up the capacity, online ed-tech firms like Byju, car dealerships in major metros, Vaccine maker Moderna and many others.  Zoom is probably the best example, the owner increased his wealth 450% during the pandemic. 

2. in clover doubler - These are the very rich who doubled or nearly doubled their wealth during the pandemic.  Most of the worlds billionaires are 'in clover doublers' From the owners of Amazon,  Reliance, Facebook,  Koch family ( manufacturers of toilet paper), Alibaba, Microsoft,  Owners of Indian pharma firms like IPCA, Natco, MSN, Microlabs ( of Dolo 650 fame!), Divi and hospital chains like Apollo all saw substantial increase in their wealth during the pandemic. We must include those invested in stock like Rakesh Jhunjunwala who doubled their wealth when compared to 2019. 

3. in clover quadrupler - These are people who had a superb year and increased their wealth more than 300% - 400% during the pandemic. Elon Musk of Tesla,  Zscaler owner Jay Chowdury, Jack Dorsey of Twitter, and am sure there are many Indians as well, am not able to list them though.

4. Covid19 Mercenary - Surely we cannot be putting names here, however, this is probably the longest list. Otherwise empty Hospitals which charged patients Rs.5-10 lakhs for a few Remdesivir injections, Transport firms that charged 50-70% extra for those trying hard to reach their home towns, Indian politicians, specially those handling the Covid19 portfolio and bought all kinds of stuff at ridiculous prices with huge commissions, some airlines and travel firms, mask and body suit dealers, Ambulance and Priest combo services for the dead, and many many more. Mercenary predators got a great opportunity of helpless customers which they exploited to the hilt. Surely mercenaries and good Samaritans are not mutually exclusive, however this post is about those who profited from the pandemic. Many included in the other categories are mercenaries too, as 'just legal' is still sadly legal!

As far as those who lost their jobs, lost or reduced getting rent, interest or couldn't go to work where no WFM was available, the nomenclature is the old and simple 'loser' 

Am sure this post can be improved for choice of descriptors, names of Indians in each category and the general content. Do let me have your feedback in the comment section please. Yes, to prevent spammers, I need to approve each comment so it may take a few hours for your comment to show up.

Happy Yugadi and a great year ahead!