This year alone, Steve Ballmer’s wealth has increased by US$20.1 billion.

One of the most advanced clubs in the world has just welcomed a new member, and a second person with lofty ideals is knocking on the door.

Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer has a net worth of more than $100 billion, making him the ninth person in the world to reach this high. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, Oracle’s founder Larry Ellison almost entered the 10th place, with a fortune of $98.6 billion at the end of Wednesday.

Ballmer, 65, stepped down as Microsoft CEO in 2014 and now owns the NBA Los Angeles Clippers. This year his wealth has increased by $20.1 billion, while Ellison has increased by $18.9 billion.

The rise in technology stocks has contributed to the recent surge in wealth, with 7 of the US$100 billion or more wealth coming from technology companies. Jeff Bezos of Amazon is the richest man in the world. He is one of the biggest beneficiaries of this rally. He now has a record net worth of US$212.1 billion.

Since the beginning of this year, the nine members of the club, together with Ellison, have increased their wealth by approximately US$245 billion, and their total value is now US$1.36 trillion. In addition to being mainly the head of technology, the group is also mainly American, with French luxury tycoon Bernard Arnault being the only exception.

Although the stock market’s rise has boosted the wealth of the world’s richest people, it has also re-examined wealth inequality and taxation. The news media ProPublica used leaked confidential tax return data to report last month that Bezos, Elon Musk and other top billionaires paid almost no income tax for some years, leading to the chairman of the Senate Finance Committee and the Oregon Democrat. Ron Wyden and others called to review the tax law.

President Joe Biden is pushing for a wide-ranging tax reform program designed to force the rich to hand over more money. He hopes to double the capital gains tax to the top tax rate of 39.6%, and strengthen regulations governing trusts, estates and other tools often used by millionaires and billionaires to reduce tax bills.

“The continued lack of wealth by a large number of Americans is shocking,” said Kenan Fickery, head of research at the Economic Innovation Group, a Washington-based think tank run by technology companies including Napster Inc. co-founder Sean Parker. Home was founded. “The market is reaching historical highs, but few people see any direct economic benefits from it.”

Ballmer’s tax was cited in Thursday’s ProPublica report, which showed how billionaires can use the ownership of sports teams to reduce their tax liabilities. The Clippers owner earned $656 million in 2018 and paid $78 million in taxes. The federal income tax rate is 12%, which is much lower than the team’s star players or arena staff.

Propublica cited documents from the US Internal Revenue Service, saying that Ballmer’s spokesperson declined to answer specific questions. The spokesperson told the news media that the billionaire has always “paid the taxes he owes and has publicly stated that he is personally willing to pay more taxes”.