Billionaires' wealth surges as lockdownees flock to Amazon, Wal-Mart

Already among the richest people in the world, Jeff Bezos and the Walton family are even richer thanks to the lockdown. The BBC reports that Amazon founder Bezos's money mountain surged $24bn to $138bn in the last few weeks. And between them, the Walton family, owners of Wal-Mart, now share a growing $168m fortune.

But other billionaires are out of luck, according to Bloomberg, with the pandemic wiping half a trillion dollars of the top 500's collective wealth.

With millions now working from home, online meeting site Zoom has seen founder Eric Yuan's fortune more than double to $7.4bn.

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index said the world's 500 richest people lost $553bn so far this year.

Investors in the global oil and gas industries have seen sharp drops in net worth as crude prices plunged on reduced global demand and a row - now resolved - about oil production between Saudi Arabia and Russia.