Seun Kuti Reacts to Forbes Billionaire List

Grammy-nominated Afrobeat singer Seun Kuti has expressed his doubt about the 2024 billionaire list recently released by American magazine, Forbes.

According to Forbes, the world’s five richest men are Bernard Arnault of France ($233 billion), Elon Musk ($195 billion), Jeff Bezos ($194 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($177 billion), and Larry Ellison ($141 billion).

Forbes used stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024, to create its latest billionaire list and maintain a real-time index for further research.

The breakdown revealed that the collective wealth of the world’s five richest men has surged to a combined total of $869 billion since the onset of the COVID-19 lockdown.

In response, Kuti argued that the list was fabricated, asserting that “no one can work that hard.”

He said via his social media page: “The world’s 5 richest men, since lockdown, have increased their wealth to a combined total of 869bn US dollars.

“That means they can spend 1 million dollars a day for the next 476 years. No one can work that hard. We have been lied to.”

Meanwhile, Nigerian billionaires, Aliko Dangote and Abdulsamad Rabiu, have seen a significant decrease in net worth, with a combined loss of $3.8 billion over the past year, as reported by Forbes World’s Billionaires List 2024.

This decline represents a 16.9 percent reduction, bringing their combined wealth to $18.6 billion from $22.4 billion.

Forbes, known for its real-time tracking of billionaire fortunes, noted that Dangote’s wealth diminished by $0.8 billion to $13.4 billion, while Rabiu experienced a more substantial decrease of $3.0 billion, bringing his total to $5.2 billion.

Conversely, Mike Adenuga’s wealth increased by $0.6 billion, reaching $6.7 billion.

April 04, 2024