Coronavirus making Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg richer

This United States TV video says about itself:

GOP [Republican party] Senators Sold Stock After Secret Coronavirus Briefing | All In | MSNBC

Senators Richard Burr and Kelly Loeffler got a private briefing about the coming pandemic. Then they dumped stocks before the market tanked. Aired on 03/20/2020.

Translated from Dutch NOS radio today:

For the time being, the coronavirus crisis brings financial benefits to the American software giant Microsoft [owned by Bill Gates]. In the past quarter, the corporation made a profit of nearly $ 11 billion, or 22 percent more than a year earlier.

Microsoft is mainly benefiting from the increased number of at-home workers. Eg, there was a much greater demand for products such as Teams and Skype, with which people can communicate.

Cloud services were also purchased more. “In a two-month period, there has been a digital transformation that normally takes two years,” said CEO Nadella in an explanation of the figures.

Facebook

Another tech corporation, Facebook [owned by Mark Zuckerberg], also seems to take advantage of the fact that many people are at home. The number of active users of the social network has risen to 2.6 billion. That is 10 percent more than last year.

Facebook sales and profits have also increased.

MONEY PILES UP FOR RICHEST FAMILY DYNASTIES The fortunes of America’s 50 richest family dynasties has soared at 10 times the rate of typical U.S. families over the last four decades, according to a new study that warns of the increasing concentration of riches. And the five richest families — the Waltons, Kochs, Marses, Cargill-MacMillans and Lauders — saw their wealth soar 2,484% since 1983. [HuffPost]