Not all “One-Percenters” are Equal

There has been much talk of the top “one percent”. It makes for great slogans, but putting the top 1% (whether by income or by wealth) into a single group is an over-simplification. When hearing about the “one-percent”, most people immediately think of Bill Gates, Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim. However, in a recent article about US millionaires, the Economist stated that the average millionaire drives a Ford. This apparent contradiction needs to be resolved.

Within the “one-percent” there is a distribution of incomes/wealth which approximates to a log-normal distribution i.e. increasingly fewer members the higher up the scale you go.

In fact, the top 1% can be divided into six distinct groups. Based on wealth, over and above their principal residence, these are:

1. Slightly rich         – 0.5 to 4 million
2. Rich                      – 4 to 25 million
3. Very Rich              – 25 to 100 million
4. Extremely rich      – 100 to 750 million
5. Filthy rich             – 750 to 2500 million
6. Obscenely Rich      – over 2.5 billion

This is not a scientific division, and you can argue about the amounts. The currency also does not matter – US dollars, Euros, UK pounds, Canadian dollars or Australian dollars are all equivalent for this purpose.

The differences between these groups can be seen in the way they fly:

1. Slightly rich         – economy, or business class on rewards points
2. Rich                       – business/first class
3. Very Rich             – rent private business jet
4. Extremely rich    – own private business jet
5. Filthy rich            – own commercial airliner
6. Obscenely Rich    – own Airbus A380