The French newspaper Le Monde revealed – in a recent report – an unprecedented increase in the concentration of wealth inside the Silicon Valley, where it has the 9th richest billionaires in the region, the equivalent of 15 times what half of its population possesses.
In its report, the newspaper relied on the “Silicon Valley Index”, which is issued annually by the “Ginet Vintersion Silicon Valley”, a research authority concerned with analyzing economic and social conditions in the region since 1995.
During his presentation of the results on March 7, the organization’s director, Russell Hancock, warned of the widening of the wealth gap in a “disturbing stability” way, stressing that the current gap is vowing the signs of a social revolution.
Shocking numbers for wealth and disparity
According to the index, the area that extends between San Francisco and San Jose, is hosting about 56 billionaires and 145 thousand millionaires.
Only 1% of the population – about 9 thousand families – accounts for 42% of the total wealth, equivalent to 421 billion dollars, and 10% of the population has 71% of the collective wealth, an increase of one point compared to 2023.
The rich list is topped by Mark Zuckerberg, the founder of “Mita” alongside Lauren Powell Jobs (the heirs of the founder of Apple) and the founders of “Google” Larry Beige and Sergey Brain, as well as Ginsen Huang, CEO of “Invteenia” and Eric Schmidt, former CEO of Google, Jean Com, Founder of WhatsApp, Robert Pera, founder of “Yobikoye Niturax “and George Roberts, a well -known financier.
Half of the population suffer
Despite an average annual high income of up to 157.1 thousand dollars per person, which is twice the national average, 30% of families in the Silicon Valley still depend on external aid.
10.1% of families live less than 5 thousand dollars annually, at a time when 37% of children face the risk of food insecurity. The region also includes 12.5 thousand homeless, without calculating about 8,000 others in the city of San Francisco.
A moving economy and a model that does not serve everyone
“The traditional theory that assumes that” the high economic tide raises all boats “no longer applies to the silicon valley, as growth is limited to the few. This is attributed to the nature of the technology economy, which depends on investment capital and not on salaries.
The report pointed to a slowdown in the labor market, as technology companies provided 75 thousand jobs between 2020 and 2022, but they soon canceled more than 80 thousand jobs between 2023 and 2024.
“The focus has moved from rapid growth to efficiency”, which led to great profits, but it is also like the growth of the region.
Economic changes in particular affected the city of San Francisco, which lost about 39.6 thousand jobs during the years 2023 and 2024.
Also, the rate of remote work is still high compared to the rest of the American states, as an office out of every 5 offices remains vacant, in a phenomenon that reminds the Internet bubble crisis at the beginning of the millennium.
Immigration maintains the population mass
The hemorrhage of the Silicon Valley stopped thanks to the flow of large numbers of foreign workers, as foreigners make up 66% of the technology sector employees. According to the report, 23% of university degrees are from India, 18% from China, and only 17% were born in California.
Immigrants represent 41% of the Silicon Valley population, compared to 27% in California in general, and 14% throughout the United States, which confirms -according to Hancock -that “the region is a global phenomenon built on minds from all over the world.”
Patents and investments
Despite slowing growth, Silicon Valley is still leading in innovation, with 23.6 thousand patents in 2024, and polarizing capital investments of $ 69 billion, of which 22 billion in artificial intelligence.
However, the report indicates the beginning of the decline in hegemony in favor of emerging technological centers around the world.
Expansion
Companies suffer from a severe housing crisis due to the high prices, as the medieval price of homes increased by 53% in one decade to $ 1.9 million.
As a result, major companies are expanding to other cities such as Austin in Texas and Seattle, where employment rates increased by 11% and 15%, respectively.
Austin also obtained 2781 constructive permit per 100,000 people during the period between January 2023 and November 2024, or 5 times San Jose, and 10 times San Francisco, indicating a clear orientation of companies towards more supporting environments for real estate growth.
While the California government seeks to impose new construction plans, municipalities are still in implementation, which may threaten the future of growth in Silicon Valley.
