New Federal Reserve analysis of stock markets has found that the concentration of ownership of the public equity stock market has hit an all-time high.
“The rich now own a record share of stocks,” Axios reported on January 10, noting that the top 10 percent hold about 93 percent of U.S. households stock market wealth.
“The running of the bulls in 2023 was more like the waddle of the fat cats,” quipped Irina Ivanova in Fortune.
Our Institute for Policy Studies Inequality.org analysis of the Fed data found that the lion’s share of these gains went to the richest 1 percent. This elite group owns 54 percent of public equity markets, up from 40 percent in 2002. The next 9 percent (or households in the 90th to 99th percentile) saw their share of public market value grow from 38 percent in 2002 to 39 percent, a modest gain.
The U.S. stock market is where major wealth gains have been achieved. The estimated current…
