I was shocked when I read they’d been a plea deal. I didn’t know you could make a deal with the government and get a lesser sentence just based on how much power and money you have. ibid. victim
‘I was sexually abused by Prince Andrew.’ Jeffrey Epstein: Filthy Rich s1e4: Finding Their Voice, Virginia Roberts Giuffre
Ghislaine Maxwell denies all allegations and maintains that she ‘had no involvement in or knowledge of Epstein’s alleged misconduct’. ibid. caption
On November 28, 2018, the Miami Herald publishes a report that examines Epstein’s 2008 plea deal. It brings renewed attention to the case. ibid.
Feds broke law in Epstein case, judge rules. ibid. Miami Herald article Julie K Brown
US v Jeffrey Epstein: Jeffrey Epstein has been arrested for alleged sex trafficking of under-aged girls. ibid. FBI press conference bulletin board
Within hours of Epstein’s arrest, federal agents raid his New York mansion. ibid.
Jeffrey Epstein Is Indicted on Sex Charges as Discovery of Nude Photos Is Disclosed: Lurid pictures found in the financier’s home could prompt a reckoning for the Justice Department, which has been accused of mishandling the case a decade ago. ibid. The New York Times online article Ali Watkins 8 July 2019
During the bail hearing, Judge Richard Berman gives survivors the opportunity to address Epstein. ibid.
He’s had an escape plan for ever. ibid. rozzer
One thing I noticed about rich people – they’re angry most of the time. Turks & Caicos 2014 starring Bill Nighy & Helena Bonham Carter & Rupert Graves & Ralph Fiennes & Ewen Bremner & James McArdle & Winona Ryder & Christopher Walken & Dylan Baker et al, director David Hare, her to him
One small suburb of Los Angeles has arguably the most exclusive postcode in the world – 90210. Hollywood calls it home. The capital of celebrity, a billionaire’s playground, a world where style is status, luxury rules the roost. Who you know, what you drive, and how much you make, is all that really matters. Inside Beverly Hills: The Land of the Rich and Famous s1e1, Channel 4 2021
The average house price in 90210 is $4.5 million. ibid.
Nearly half of Beverly Hills adults are single. There are twice as many women in the market for love than men. Inside Beverly Hills: The Land of the Rich and Famous s1e2, captions
Beverly Hills boasts more millionaires than any other town in the world. ibid.
Appearances are everything in Beverly Hills. And what you drive speaks volumes about your wealth and status. Inside Beverly Hills: The Land of the Rich and Famous s1e3
Owners of assets have all made out like bandits. The Decade the Rich Won I, dude, BBC 2022
Bailout: ‘the rich survived and got even richer.’ Bailout to UK banks: £124 billion. ibid.
Google: £395m, estimated corporation tax £6m; Facebook: £175m, estimated corporation tax £238,000; Amazon £3.3b, estimated corporation tax £0; Starbucks £398m, estimated corporation tax £0. ibid.
World leaders were plotting an exit from the pandemic. But our prime minister walking talking about the 2008 crash. The Decade the Rich Won II
Printing money: ‘only game in town’. ibid.
Total Bank of England Quantitative Easing August 2016: £445 billion. ibid.
QE benefited the richest the most … It is the top one or five per cent who have benefited the most. ibid. Paul Marshall, Marshall Wace LLP
Britain’s economy is producing more billionaires than ever. ibid. caption
Uber drivers in the UK are not alone. Protests spring up around the world. ibid.
Total Bank of England QE March 2020: £645 billion. ibid.
What inspires you and what makes you excited about the future? Elon Musk: Superhero or Supervillain? Musk, Channel 4 2022
Musk hopes his rockets will turn humans into what he calls Interplanetary species. ibid.
These are the playgrounds of the rich and famous. Destinations that sparkle with more glamour and sex than anywhere else. Playgrounds of the Rich and Famous: The Hamptons, Channel 5 2022
100 miles east of Manhattan is a collections of towns and villages stretching along the Atlantic coast. Welcome to the Hamptons. What used to be fishing and farming communities became the coastal escape for New York’s wealthiest families in the last nineteenth century. ibid.
Beachfront homes on the Hamptons can cost as much as $175 million. ibid.
The Caribbean: a hideaway for the famous. A playground for the rich … a billionaire’s paradise. The Caribbean: Billionaire’s Paradise, Channel 4 2023
In the south-east of the Caribbean is Barbados, a glimmering jewel in the Atlantic ocean. Home to rare wildlife and surrounded by coral reefs. ibid.
When the rich rob the poor it’s called business. When the poor fight it’s called violence. Mark Twain
Some cartels are as rich as nations. Narco Bling, National Geographic 2013
I know from experience that even mentioning income distribution leads to angry accusations of class warfare ... Why has the response to rising inequality been a drive to reduce taxes on the rich? Paul Krugman
Rich parents moved in the areas of the best schools which then caused house prices to spiral keeping the poor out. Adam Curtis, The Trap II: The Lonely Robot, BBC 2007
Under New Labour the country is even more unequal than it was under Mrs Thatcher with an ever-increasing share of the wealth going to a tiny 1% of the top of society … The social divisions in Britain are hardening and deepening. ibid.
Extreme poverty increases as billionaires’ fortunes balloon by $2.7 billion-a-day.
The richest 1% of Britons hold more wealth than 70 per cent of Britons.
The richest 1% have pocketed $26 trillion (£21 trillion) in new wealth since 2020, nearly twice as much as the other 99 per cent of the world’s population, an Oxfam report reveals today.
Survival of the Richest highlights how extreme wealth and extreme poverty have increased simultaneously for the first time in 25 years.
It shows that the 1% are getting an ever-greater share of the world’s resources, despite already capturing around half of all new wealth during the past decade. In the two years up to December 2021, the 1% grabbed almost two-thirds (63 per cent) of the $42 trillion (£34 trillion) of new wealth created.
The report is published as elites gather in the Swiss ski resort of Davos for the opening day of the World Economic Forum. Inequality is expected to be high on the agenda following the World Bank’s announcement last year that global progress in reducing extreme poverty has come to a halt amid what it expects to be the largest increase in global inequality since World War II. Oxfam online report 16th January 2023, ‘Richest 1% grab nearly twice as much new wealth as rest of the world put together’
‘The Bill Gates at Microsoft was a cold-hearted bully, whereas Bill Gates at the Gates Foundation is widely celebrated because of billions of dollars he has given away. But it’s not the innocent humanitarian organisation that we’ve been led to believe it is.’ The Billionaires Who Made Our World: Bill Gates, Channel 4 2023
Bill Gates has spent decades devoted to philanthropy. ibid.
Gates later dropped out of Harvard University to achieve his dream of building a software company along with his schoolfriend Paul Allen. ibid.
Gates also developed a reputation for ruthlessness. ibid.
Gates has been leading a double life for decades. The ’80s and ’90s saw allegations of womanising, weekends away with his mistress, and pool parties with strippers. ibid.
2019: When his relationship with a notorious paedophile was revealed. ibid.
Despite the divorce and ensuing scandal, Bill and Melinda Gates continued to run their Foundation together. ibid.
‘Bill Gates gets a real public benefit running this Foundation in terms of billions of dollars in tax subsidies.’ ibid.
‘The footage of the early Jeff Bezos with the Amazon.com spray painted on the wall shows this person who is completely different. Jeff Bezos: The Billionaires Who Made Our World, BBC 2023
‘It’s very stressful on your body physically. And of course mentally as well. I’ve seen good people get fired for no reason. I’ve seen good people quit for no reason. I’ve seen a lot of injuries. I always stayed with workers at entry level.’ ibid. Chris Smalls
Today, Amazon is one of the biggest companies in the world. Giving Jeff Bazos a fortune of over a hundred and twenty billion dollars. He is currently the third richest man on Earth. ibid.
Seattle: they set up in this suburban garage. As the internet exploded, Bezos’s online bookshop grew quickly. ibid.
Bezos had a reputation of being intimidating. ibid.
Critics say that Bezos build his empire by being a ruthless businessman. ibid.
Bezos was by now the owner of the Washington Post newspaper. ibid.
Smalls has been up against one of the world’s most powerful men. ibid.
Employee protests are spreading. In the UK workers are striking for the first time demanding better conditions. ibid.