Charity says superrich 4,000 times more likely to hold political power than others, and own all social media companies, in report released to coincide with the opening of the WEF’s annual meeting in Davos.

International aid organisation Oxfam has released its annual report on rising inequality, expressing concern that billionaires are not only wealthier than ever but are also cementing their control over politics, media and social media.

The report released on Sunday also underscored the widening chasm between the haves and have-nots in a world beset by conflicts and multiplying protests.

According to Oxfam’s analysis, the collective wealth of billionaires surged by $2.5 trillion in 2025, almost equivalent to the total wealth held by the bottom half of humanity, or 4.1 billion people.

Last year was also the first time that there were more than 3,000 billionaires in the world, and the first time that the world’s richest person, Elon Musk, had more than half a trillion dollars.

The charity’s annual report on rising inequality was released to coincide with the opening of the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos, Switzerland, a meeting which hosts close to 1,000 of the world’s richest people together with political leaders, alongside a handful of invited activists each year.

The theme of this year’s meeting is A Spirit of Dialogue. However, Oxfam argued in its annual report that the superrich are increasingly controlling the means of communication, including both traditional and newer forms of media.

It cited examples of Jeff Bezos, the billionaire owner of Amazon, buying The Washington Post, Musk acquiring Twitter/X, Patrick Soon-Shiong taking over the Los Angeles Times newspaper and far-right billionaire Vincent Bollore owning France’s CNews.

“The outsized influence that the superrich have over our politicians, economies and media has deepened inequality and led us far off track on tackling poverty,” said Oxfam International Executive Director Amitabh Behar.

“Governments should be listening to the needs of the people on things like quality healthcare, action on climate change and tax fairness,” Behar added.

Oxfam also estimated that billionaires are 4,000 times more likely to hold political office than common citizens and cited a World Values Survey of 66 countries, which found that almost half of all people polled say the rich often buy elections in their country.

“The widening gap between the rich and the rest is at the same time creating a political deficit that is highly dangerous and unsustainable,” Behar said.

‘Lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable’

Oxfam also noted that there were 142 significant antigovernment protests across 68 countries last year, which it said authorities typically met with violence.

“Governments are making wrong choices to pander to the elite and defend wealth while repressing people’s rights and anger at how so many of their lives are becoming unaffordable and unbearable,” Behar said.

According to the WEF, participants at this year’s Davos meeting include “nearly 850 of the world’s top CEOs and chairpersons” alongside political leaders, including United States President Donald Trump, Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney, and Chinese Vice Premier He Lifeng.

In addition to its political advocacy, Oxfam is also an aid organisation, delivering humanitarian assistance in countries around the world.

The group repeatedly sounded the alarm about forced starvation in Gaza under Israel’s genocidal war and was one of 37 international aid groups banned from the Palestinian enclave by Israel late last year.

Under Nicolás Maduro, a status quo prevailed among Venezuela’s powerful armed factions: Paramilitary cells enforced the government’s priorities. Ever-expanding crime syndicates, deep-pocketed prison gangs and combat-tested Colombian rebels often colluded with local officials or the federal government.

But with Mr. Maduro gone, and allies and opponents competing to fill the power vacuum at Venezuela’s center, there are many forces — or breakaway groups within them — that could frustrate the ambitions of whoever governs the country.

For now, Delcy Rodríguez, a Maduro ally who led the stabilization of Venezuela’s economy after a harrowing crash, has emerged as the Trump administration’s choice to lead the country. Ms. Rodríguez, the administration determined, has a firmer grip than the political opposition on Venezuela’s many security forces and intelligence agencies, and their paramilitary offshoots.

But the transition from Mr. Maduro’s authoritarian rule is just starting. The huge investments Venezuela will need to revive its vital oil industry, and the broader economy, require at least a semblance of stability.

That means the central government has to assert authority over areas of the country where well-armed crime syndicates or paramilitary agents hold sway, choking off their revenue streams from illegal activities, including extortion, drug smuggling and kidnapping. But that could upset the power dynamics Mr. Maduro used to cement control.

Rebecca Hanson, a sociologist at the University of Florida and an expert on Venezuela’s security landscape, said that suddenly reducing the access to illicit markets and extortion rackets that criminal groups now enjoy is a recipe for turmoil.

“That invariably results in the perfect cocktail of increased conflict, both between criminal armed groups, and between criminal groups and the state,” Ms. Hanson said.

The new dynamic does not mean a full-blown civil war is on the horizon, security experts said. But pockets of civil strife could materialize under different circumstances. These include pushback from factions in the armed forces against Venezuela’s submission to the Trump administration, or a purge of security forces and intelligence agencies by an opposition-led government, potentially flooding the country with thousands of armed individuals with an ax to grind.

But there are more immediate security challenges. One involves the colectivos, the armed civilian cells that function as paramilitary enforcers for the government.

These groups generally operate in cities where they control small but strategically important swaths of territory. In Caracas, they are based in strongholds like 23 de Enero, an area of decaying modernist apartment blocks under a mile from the Miraflores presidential palace.

Some colectivos there are more ideologically aligned with Chavismo, the socialist-inspired movement forged by Hugo Chávez. Others hew to their own mercenary ideals, relying on government payouts and small-scale criminal activities to stay afloat.

Some colectivos have been seen on the streets of Caracas since Mr. Maduro’s capture. Valentín Santana, the leader of one of the oldest colectivos, La Piedrita, suggested that unnamed elements within the government had been colluding with the United States prior to Mr. Maduro’s capture, revealing fissures within Venezuela’s power structures.

“They betrayed our president, Nicolás Maduro, but history will make them pay,” Mr. Santana said in a video made after Mr. Maduro’s capture.

Should even a small number of individuals from such groups mount armed challenges to the established order, Caracas offers multiple options for refuge with its labyrinthine squatter settlements, sprawling apartment blocks, abandoned high-rises and hilly topography.

Outside Caracas, security challenges also abound. Unlike the colectivos, some armed groups in rural areas are already battle-tested against well-trained adversaries. These include Colombian guerrillas with thousands in their ranks, often operating from Venezuelan territory.

These rebel groups, the National Liberation Army, or E.L.N., and splinter cells from the demobilized Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia, or FARC, no longer have realistic chances of seizing control of a central government.

But their numbers are resurging as they vie for control over drug smuggling routes and extortion rackets, while still relying on other illicit revenue streams like abducting oil workers.

Venezuela’s mineral deposits are another potential source of instability, notably in the gold-rich state of Bolívar. Las Claritas Sindicato, one of the most powerful criminal groups engaged in illegal mining, is deeply rooted there.

Las Claritas, like similar groups, applies taxes on miners and traders, and exerts strict control over outposts where it imposes its own laws and punishments for scofflaws, according to InSight Crime, a research group focused on organized crime.

Venezuela’s leadership faces not only challenges from illegal armed groups, but also potential defiance from within governing circles.

At the moment, there is a fragile alliance between civilian factions, led by Ms. Rodríguez and her brother, Jorge Rodríguez, the head of the National Assembly; and military factions led by Interior Minister Diosdado Cabello and Defense Minister Vladimir Padrino López.

But an open rupture between these camps over a contentious issue like U.S. meddling in Venezuela could open up other chances for conflict, warned Ms. Hanson, the sociologist.

Security forces and intelligence agencies are more closely aligned with the military faction, potentially threatening the stability of a civilian government whether it is led by a Chavista, like Ms. Rodríguez, or an opposition leader, like Maria Corina Machado, the recipient of last year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The United States has extended invitations to multiple foreign governments to join President Donald Trump’s “Board of Peace,” with at least six countries confirming on Sunday that they were invited.

The Associated Press reported the six countries are: Jordan, Greece, Cyprus, Pakistan, Hungary and India.

Canada, Turkey, Egypt, Paraguay, Argentina and Albania have already said they too were invited, according to the outlet.

The White House on Friday released a statement outlining the next phase of Trump’s Gaza peace plan, naming senior international figures to oversee governance, reconstruction and long-term development of the enclave.

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“The Board of Peace will play an essential role in fulfilling all 20 points of the President’s plan, providing strategic oversight, mobilizing international resources, and ensuring accountability as Gaza transitions from conflict to peace and development,” the statement said in part.

Trump will chair the board and be joined by a group of senior political, diplomatic and business figures, including his son-in-law Jared Kushner, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, U.S. special envoy Steve Witkoff and billionaire Marc Rowan, among others.

The Gaza Executive Board, which supports governance and the delivery of services, will work alongside the Office of the High Representative and the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza to advance “peace, stability, and prosperity.”

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Notably, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan and Qatari diplomat Ali Al-Thawadi were named as appointed members.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said on X that the composition of the Gaza Executive Board was not coordinated with Israel and “runs contrary to its policy.”

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Netanyahu’s office said it told Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar to contact Rubio to convey Israel’s concerns.

Under Trump’s plan, Hamas was to turn over all living and deceased hostages that were still being held in Gaza. To date, one dead hostage, Ran Gvili, has yet to be handed over.

The White House said additional Executive Board and Gaza Executive Board members will be announced over the coming weeks.