The outbreak of COVID-19 is shaking the world to its core.

By now, many countries have entered economic recession, the disruption by the pandemic sparks mass unemployment and is expected to wipe out 6,7% of working hours globally in the second quarter of 2020, the equivalent of 195 million jobs worldwide, according to the UN's labour body. More than 80% of workers globally are resident in countries affected by full or partial lockdown measures, the International Labour Organization (ILO) states in a report. The Development Assistance NGO Oxfam warns, that the pandemic could precipitate as much as 500 million people around the globe into poverty. Financially stricken health care systems are overwhelmed by the skyrocketing number of infections, national debts escalate and governments fight to get a grip on this situation German Federal Chancellor Angela Merkel called „the most severe crisis since WWII“. Appropriate and comprehensive aid measures are desperately needed, administrations and rights groups agree that these extraordinary times call for extraordinary measures.



But where is the required money supposed to come from? Credits, payment deferrals as well as one-time deficiency payments may have been granted to some, but these do not constitute effective and sustainable solutions. The coronavirus pandemic is a test for philanthropic engagement and solidarity, however research shows (as can be seen below), adequate and substantial participation of the world's super rich is massively failing. There might be outstanding examples of best practice like Indian business tycoon Azim Premji's generous donation of $16 billion or Twitter Internet entrepreneur Jack Dorsey's commitment of $1 billion (both not included in the list below), but these are exceptional cases, altogether too few take part and only tiny fractional amounts of available capital are voluntarily given.

Saskia Esken, head of German party SPD, already suggested this and we, the people, support her concern. We summon the legislatives of the U.S. and Germany, home to some of the world's richest billionaires, to immediately levy a COVID-19 emergency wealth tax on the financial elite to make their contribution to fundamental relief mandatory! Please set a good example so other countries will follow. The highlighted persons below only represent the tip of the iceberg, also multimillionaires should be charged. Wealth implies responsibility, and we are reliant on these resources to tackle the crisis, stop excessive national debt, rebuild our economy, fund professional treatments as well as to secure food supply and shelter.

Exemplifications of the world's richest people and their voluntary efforts taken towards the coronavirus crisis:

Jeff Bezos (USA), $138.0 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Jeff Bezos is a businessman, media proprietor, investor and the world's richest person. He is the founder, CEO and president of the online retail company Amazon.com, Inc., which acquired Whole Foods amongst other businesses. Bezos is also a shareholder of Google, Uber and Airbnb. Bezos Expeditions owns the private aerospace company Blue Origin and his Nash Holdings LLC. the newspaper Washington Post.

Whole Foods first recommended its employees that they share paid personal time off with each other as the coronavirus continued to spread[1]. Their Whole Worker group of employees protests a lack of adequate compensation and protection from the coronavirus[2].

Jeff Bezos pledged to donate $100 million to Feeding America, a nonprofit organization which runs a network of food banks and pantries across the U.S.[3].

Amazon invested $20 million in the AWS Diagnostic Development Initiative to accelerate COVID-19 research, committed $23 million to several organizations in Europe, is hiring 100,000 new full- and part-time positions and increased wages with an additional $2/hour. The company also established a $25 million relief fund for partners, created a $5 million grant fund for small businesses in Seattle[4], contributed $1 million to a Seattle foundation help those affected by COVID-19[5] and donated $1 million to emergency funds in the Washington D.C. region[6].

On March 20, four senators sent a letter to Bezos expressing concern that Amazon was not doing enough to protect warehouse workers from COVID-19[7].

For comparison: Jeff Bezos donated $10 billion to fight climate change, however exclusive of Amazons highly polluting activities[8].

Bill Gates (USA), $104.4 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Bill Gates is a business magnate, software engineer, investor and "philanthropist". He is the co-founder and former chairman and CEO of Microsoft.

In 2010 Bill Gates started the Giving Pledge with Warren Buffet.

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (the worlds largest private charitable foundation) made announcements that it would provide up to $100 million to improve detection, isolation and treatment efforts; protect at-risk populations and accelerate the development of vaccines, drugs and diagnostics[1] as well as commit $5 million to help public health agencies in the greater Seattle area respond to COVID-19[2].

Bernard Arnault & family (FRA), $90.2 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Bernard Arnault is a business magnate, investor, art collector and Europe's richest person. He is the chairman as well as chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE.

LVMH, the worlds leading luxury products group gathering 75 prestigious houses like Parfums Christian Dior, Givenchy and Guerlain, decided to start manufacturing hydroalcoholic/disinfectant gel in three of its perfumes & cosmetic facilities for donation[1]. Also they ordered 10 million masks (worth approximately $5.4 million, which „will be repeated for at least four weeks in similar quantities“)[2][3] and announced to put $3.1 million[4] toward the cause.

NO independent monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

For comparison: $215,6 million were donated by Arnault for the reconstruction of Notre Dame[5].

Warren Buffet (USA), $76.1 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Warren Buffet is a business magnate, investor and "philanthropist" who is the chairman and CEO of the multinational conglomerate holding company Berkshire Hathaway. Berkshire Hathaway owns e.g. Duracell, Dairy Queen and Lubrizol, besides it's a shareholder of Coca-Cola, Apple, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble.

Buffet is a trustee of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to which he pledged to donate every year since 2006[1]. In 2010, Warren Buffett started the Giving Pledge[2] with Bill Gates.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Larry Ellison (USA), $67.5 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Larry Ellison is a business magnate, investor and „philanthropist“ who is the co-founder, executive chairman as well as chief technology officer (CTO) of the computer tech Oracle Corporation.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

For comparison: Larry Ellison is throwing a fundraiser for Donald Trump, the most significant display of support from a major tech titan for America's president, by far[1].

Mark Zuckerberg (USA), $66.0 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Mark Zuckerberg is an Internet entrepreneur, „philanthropist“ and the co-founder, chairman as well as CEO of Facebook, which owns eg. Instagram and Whatsapp.

Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan signed the Giving Pledge in 2015[1].

Their Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) and the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub) are helping frontline healthcare facilities and local authorities in California to increase the volume of local clinical testing[2]. CZI also collaborated to create a new, open dataset containing research literature related to the coronavirus[3], commits $25 million to speed development of COVID-19 treatments[4], has granted more than $1 million to support educators and families[5] and $5 million to assist Bay Area COVID-19 emergency relief efforts[6].

Facebook announced a $100 million grant program for small businesses impacted by the pandemic[7], committed to match $20 million in donations to the United Nations Foundation, the World Health Organization (WHO) and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC)[8]. The company also said it would donate its emergency reserve of 720,000 masks to health workers as well as work to source millions more to contribute[9].

Amancio Ortega (ESP), $65.2 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Amancio Ortega is a retailer and the co-founder of Inditex (of which he owns about 60%), Zara's parent company. Inditex operates roughly 7,500 stores around the world and owns brands like Massimo Dutti, Pull & Bear, Bershka and Oysho.

To help the coronavirus pandemic Amancio Ortega contributed 300,000 surgical masks (his daughter, Sandra Ortega Mera, however donated 1 million masks beside 5,000 protective suits and a number of screen protectors) and other materials that serve the hospitals in Spain. The clothing company Inditex has started making robes alongside other medical supplies, they also commenced to produce masks, gloves and other protective gear[1]. Now their intention is to donate 300,000 masks per week as well as sending more essential material for the protection of frontline workers[2].

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Steve Ballmer (USA), $62.5 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Steve Ballmer is a businessman, investor and the former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 until 2014, taking over the position from Bill Gates. Since his retirement he is the owner of the NBA team LA Clippers.

In 2014 he increased his "philanthropy", focussing on helping Americans out of poverty[1].

After a $10 million donation to the University of Washington Medicine's emergency response fund, founded by him and his wife Connie, he has pledged another $25 million towards organizations trying to fight the coronavirus outbreak. The donation is aimed to accelerate testing for a virus vaccine in the Seattle area, where he and his family lives[2].

Larry Page (USA), $57.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Larry Page is a computer scientist, investor, Internet entrepreneur and the co-founder of Google alongside Sergey Brin. In December 2019 he stepped down as CEO of Google's parent Alphabet Inc., but continues to be a board member and controlling shareholder.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Jim Walton (USA), $56.9 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart's founder Sam Walton and a heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. The Walton family's collective fortune makes them the richest non-royal family in the world. Jim Walton sat on Walmart's Board of Directors for more than ten years until 2016 and possesses an estimated 44% of his family owned Arvest Bank.

Walmart, which is the largest private employer in the world, announced it would raise hourly pay for warehouse employees by $2 an hour, waive rent for all Walmart's tenants and plans to give $550 million in cash bonuses to its hourly staff[1] (including an earlier payout of a quarterly bonus as well as a special cash bonus of $300 for full-time workers and $150 for part-time workers)[2].

The company said it was committing $25 million to various organizations on the frontline responding to COVID-19[3].

NO independent aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Alice Walton (USA), $56.7 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Alice Walton is the daughter of Walmart's founder Sam Walton and a heiress to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. The Walton family's collective fortune makes them the richest non-royal family in the world. In her early career Alice Walton headed investment activities at the family's Arvest Bank but later focused on curating art, rather than working for Walmart like her brothers Jim and Rob. In 2011 she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Arts in Betonville, Arkansas.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Alice Walton is a Board of Directors member of the family's foundation, wherefrom also NO donation was made[1].

Rob Walton (USA), $56.4 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart's founder Sam Walton and a heir to the fortune of Walmart, the world's largest retailer. The Walton family's collective fortune makes them the richest non-royal family in the world. Rob Walton inherited Walmart's chairman position from his father, Sam Walton, upon his death in 1992 and retired in 1995.

Walmart, which is the largest private employer in the world, announced it would raise hourly pay for warehouse employees by $2 an hour, waive rent for all Walmart's tenants and plans to give $550 million in cash bonuses to its hourly staff[1] (including an earlier payout of a quarterly bonus as well as a special cash bonus of $300 for full-time workers and $150 for part-time workers)[2].

The company said it was committing $25 million to various organizations on the frontline responding to COVID-19[3].

NO independent monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Rob Walton is a Board of Directors member of the family's foundation, wherefrom also NO donation was made[4].

Sergey Brin (USA), $55.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Sergey Brin is a computer scientist, investor, Internet entrepreneur and the co-founder of Google alongside Larry Page. In December 2019 he stepped down as president of Google's parent Alphabet Inc., but remains a controlling shareholder and board member.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers (FRA), $54.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Francoise Bettencourt Meyers is the heiress to the family owned beauty conglomerate L'Oréal. She has served on L'Oréal's board since 1997 and is also the holding company's chairwoman. Besides she is an author of Bible commentaries and works on Jewish-Christian relations.

L’Oréal started to make hand sanitizer, is supplying surgical and respirator masks, has donated $1,1 million to non-profit organizations across Europe, $250,000 to the U.S. hunger relief organization Feeding America and will freeze payments of small businesses in its distribution network[1]. Furthermore the company has pledged $720,000 to the Chinese Red Cross Foundation[2].

NO independent monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

For comparison: $226 million were donated by L’Oréal and the Bettencourt family for the reconstruction of Notre Dame[3].

Michael Bloomberg (USA), $52.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Michael Bloomberg is a businessman, politician, „philanthropist“ and the co-founder of the financial information and media company Bloomberg LP, of which he owns 88%.

When serving three terms as mayor of New York City his self-proclaimed "passion for public health" led to ambitious strategies, e.g. a ban on smoking indoors, in parks and at beaches[1].

Bloomberg initially ran for president's office in 2020. In the light of his campaign dropout, he laid off hundreds of campaign helpers, who were promised to be on his payroll until November, no matter what - leaving them uninsured and without pay during the COVID-19 pandemic. They were allowed to keep their provided iPhones and MacBooks though[2].

During the coronavirus crisis, Bloomberg Philanthropies launched two initiatives. One is based on virtual gatherings from top officials and public health experts for up-to-date virus information and crisis coaching. The second is a $40 million project to combat the outspread in low and middle income countries, especially in Africa, partnering up with the World Health Organization[3].

Carlos Slim Helú & family (MEX), $48.5 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Carlos Slim Helú is a business magnate, investor, art collector and Latin America's richest person. He and his family control Latin America's biggest mobile telecom company, América Móvil. Telmex, Mexiko's only and therefore monopole phone company, is also part of América Móvil. Carlos Slim Helú possesses extensive holdings in a number of companies through his conglomerate Grupo Carso. Besides owning the bank Inbursa, restaurant and retail chains he is the largest shareholder of the New York Times.

His foundation, the Carlos Slim Health Institute, announced a donation of $41 million for medical resources, public health education and protection equipment[1].

MacKenzie Bezos (USA), $44.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

MacKenzie Bezos is a novelist, the former wife of Jeff Bezos (whom she helped to build and conceptualize Amazon) and founder of Bystander Revolution, an anti-bullying organization. In 2019 she signed the Giving Pledge[1] and promised to commit at least half of her fortune to charity.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Ma Huateng (CHN), $44.6 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Ma Huateng is a business magnate, investor, politician and „philanthropist“. He is a co-founder, the chairman and CEO of Tencent Holdings Ltd., a conglomerate holding company whose subsidiaries specialize in Internet-related services and products, entertainment, A.I. and technology. It e.g. created WeChat and TikTok.

Ma Huateng donated about $42 million to help ease the coronavirus situation in China's worst-hit areas[1], whilst Tencent set up an Anti-Pandemic Fund with around $211 million for China and announced the launch of a $100 million Global Anti-Pandemic Fund to support international efforts[2].

Charles Koch (USA), $42.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Charles Koch is a businessman and „philanthropist“. He has been co-owner, chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, a diversified (oil, gas, paper and chemical) conglomerate with 130,000 employees from Kansas.

NEITHER Charles Koch NOR the Koch family foundations, a group of charitable foundations associated with the Koch family, have taken monetary aid measures towards the coronavirus crisis.

Julia Koch & Fam (USA), $42.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Julia Koch worked as a fashion design assistant. She and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries from her husband David Koch, Charles Koch's younger brother and former co-owner of Koch Industries, upon his death in August 2019.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Mukesh Ambani (IND), $42.1 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Mukesh Ambani is a business magnate and Asia's richest person. He is the chairman, managing director as well as largest shareholder of the oil and gas giant Reliance Industries Ltd., which was founded by his father.

The Reliance Foundation has set up India's first COVID-19 center with 100 beds in Mumbai.

Reliance has equipped an isolation facility, is producing 100,000 masks daily, provides free meals and free fuel for patient transportation. Besides the company contributed $67 million to the Indian Prime Minister's emergency fund, $660,000 million to the relief fund of the chief minister of Ambani's home state and $660,000 to a similar fund of Gujarat state, where Reliance's largest refinery complex is located[1][2].

NO independent monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Jack Ma (CHN), $41.8 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Jack Ma is a business magnate, investor, politician and „philanthropist“. He is a co-founder and the former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, one of the world's largest e-commerce businesses.

Jack Ma has pledged $14 million to help develop a COVID-19 vaccine through his Jack Ma Foundation[1]. The foundation also distributed testing kits, medical supplies and protective gear to Europe, the U.S. as well as several countries across Asia, Africa and Latin America[1][2]. His foundation and Alibaba's corporate foundation have established the Global MediXChange, a programme to help doctors across the world share best practices during the pandemic[3]. Alibaba commited $144 million to support hospitals in Wuhan[1].

Elon Musk (USA), $36.9 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Elon Musk in an engineer, industrial designer, tech entrepreneur and "philanthropist". He controls SpaceX (Space Exploration Technologies Corp., a private aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company), Tesla, Inc. (an electric vehicle and clean energy company) and The Boring Company (also known as TBC, an infrastructure and tunnel construction services company), co-founded Neuralink (a neurotechnology company) as well as OpenAI (an artificial intelligence research organization).

Elon Musk launched the Musk Foundation in 2001 and in 2012, signed the Giving Pledge (promising to commit a majority of his wealth).

He downplayed the severity of the coronavirus several times on Twitter[1][2], however Tesla recently decided to donate 1,200 respirators to a hospital in California, „hundreds“ of ventilators to New York[2] and 50,000 surgical masks[1][3]. Musk said that Tesla's Gigafactory will reopen to begin producing ventilators too[1]. SpaceX now manufactures hand sanitizer and face shields, besides donated 100 coverall suits. The company also decided to cut their food prices for employees in half[3].

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

David Thomson & family (CAN), $36.7 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

David Thomson is a hereditary peer, media magnate and chairman of Thomson Reuters Corp., a multinational media conglomerate. His family owns the Toronto-based Globe and Mail newspaper.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

Phil Knight & family (USA), $35.7 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Phil Knight is a business magnate, the co-founder and retired CEO as well as chairman of shoe giant Nike, Inc., formerly Blue Ribbon Sports.

Nike and its senior management announced they will commit more than $15 million (roughly $15,4 million) to coronavirus response efforts and to support communities where their employees live and work[1][2].

Phil Knight and wife Penny Knight, executive chairman Mark Parker and wife Kathy Parker, CEO John Donahoe and wife Eileen Donahoe will altogether personally give $10 million to be distributed among the Oregon Food Bank, the Oregon Community Foundation Recovery Fund and the Oregon Health & Science University[1][2].

$5,4million is donated by the Nike Foundation and distributed to the COVID-19 Solidarity Response Fund by the United Nations and Swiss Philantrophy Foundation, the Oregon Community Foundation Recovery Fund, the King Baudouin Foundation, the Mid-South Food Bank in Memphis, the Community Foundation of Greater Memphis and the Boston Foundation.

Also included in the latter figure is about $1,4 million given to the China Youth Development Foundation to help provide frontline workers with supplies and equipment[1][2].

Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. (DEU), $35.4 billion net worth (forbes.com, as of April 15, 2020)

Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr. are siblings, the children of Aldi Süd founder Karl Albrecht and heirs to the Aldi Süd retail fortune. The discount supermarket chain runs, together with Aldi Nord (founded by their uncle Theo Albrecht), more than 10,000 stores in 20 countries.

NO monetary aid measures were taken towards the coronavirus crisis.

THIS IS BY FAR NOT ENOUGH