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Since The COVID Pandemic Began, Tech Billionaires Saw Their Wealth Skyrocket As 40 Million Americans Forced On Unemployment, Food Lines

How billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Elon Musk and other global elites got $637 billion richer during the coronavirus pandemic.

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6 years ago

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From March to June 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his wealth rise by an estimated $48 billion. The founder of the video-conferencing platform Zoom grew his nest egg by over $2.5 billion, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s net worth increased by $15.7 billion.

While lines at food pantries across America stretched out over a mile long, America’s tech titans were piling up their cash reserves at rates nearly unimaginable to the average person. While some of you received a COVID ‘stimulus check’ for $1,200, people like Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk got the much larger slice of that 2 trillion dollar pie. While some of you were filing for unemployment, the billionaires were signing papers on yachts and mansions. Are they profiting off of our collective misery? You can bet you bottom dollar on that.

“For we brought nothing into this world, and it is certain we can carry nothing out. And having food and raiment let us be therewith content. But they that will be rich fall into temptation and a snare, and into many foolish and hurtful lusts, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows. But thou, O man of God, flee these things; and follow after righteousness, godliness, faith, love, patience, meekness. Fight the good fight of faith, lay hold on eternal life, whereunto thou art also called, and hast professed a good profession before many witnesses.” 1 Timothy 6:7-12 (KJB)

These billionaires are part of what is known as the ‘global elites’, and these are the people that rule the world. They are going to force you to take a vaccine and digital ID because Bill Gates has decreed it to be so. He is not content with all his wealth, now the only thing that interests him and all the others is control. Control of me and you. The global elites are the ones who forced us into lockdown, forced us into mask wearing, and are now forcing us to the brink of extinction.

How tech billionaires like Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Elon Musk got $637 billion richer during the coronavirus pandemic

FROM BUSINESS INSIDER: From March to June 2020, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos saw his wealth rise by an estimated $48 billion. The founder of the video-conferencing platform Zoom grew his nest egg by over $2.5 billion, and former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer’s net worth increased by $15.7 billion.

These kinds of examples might lead you to think that when billionaires profit during a crisis, it’s just a matter of right place, right time. Well, that’s not false, but it’s not entirely true either. Casino magnate Sheldon Adelson saw his wealth increase by $5 billion, while Elon Musk saw an increase of $17.2 billion. When you add up the numbers, billionaires in the United States have increased their total net worth $637 billion during the COVID-19 pandemic so far.

At the same time, more than 40 million Americans filed for unemployment. With tens of millions of Americans out of a paycheck and the stock market plummeting by 37% in March, how is it that the rich have continued getting richer?

This isn’t the first time billionaires have seen gains while a large portion of Americans were feeling losses. When the housing bubble burst in 2007, home prices fell 21% and roughly 3.1 million homes were foreclosed on in the United States. The stock market plummeted by over 50%. And by the end of 2009, 8.8 million Americans had lost their jobs. And the effects lingered. From 2009 to 2012, the incomes of the bottom 99% grew by only 0.4%, but the income of the top 1% grew by a staggering 31.4% in the same time span. And it all ties back to two things.

First, the government disproportionately gave more aid to banks and corporations. In 2008, the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act was signed into law, creating a $700 billion program to purchase devalued assets from banks. This was called the Troubled Asset Relief Program, or TARP. Later, President Obama would direct $75 billion in funds from TARP to help reduce interest payments for homeowners. That means homeowners received around 10% of the direct relief that banks and corporations did.

And this leads to reason No. 2. When the stock market bounced back, the unequal bailouts meant that the wealthy still had money on hand to invest and thus profit, while the middle and lower classes did not. In 2008, the Federal Reserve lowered short-term interest rates to near zero. They would remain that low for nearly a decade. This paved the way for a historic bull market on Wall Street that began in 2009 and lasted until March 2020, when the pandemic hit.

In that time, the S&P 500 gained 462%. That means that a $1,000 investment in the S&P 500 at the low point of the financial crisis could have returned roughly $4,620, while someone who could afford a $1 million investment could have pulled in over $4.6 million.

By 2009, the world’s high-net-worth individuals had grown their share of global wealth by 19% to $39 trillion, recouping nearly all of their losses in a single year. That quick recovery and larger share of the world’s wealth enabled them to continue to make money at an exponential rate. In fact, the top 1% captured 95% of the income gains made from 2009 to 2012. And by 2020, the combined wealth of the billionaire class in the United States had increased by over 80%.

Which brings us back to the moment when the coronavirus pandemic rocked the economy. In 2019, the Fed reported that four in 10 Americans didn’t have enough cash in their bank accounts to cover a $400 unexpected expense. And in the first few months of 2020, 40 million Americans found themselves unemployed due to COVID-19. Many small businesses had to close due to lockdowns and social distancing, while others were forced to try to operate with entirely remote staff.

The Small Business Administration made $349 billion available to small businesses with the Paycheck Protection Program. But like in 2008, $243 million of that was snapped up by large, publicly traded corporations, some of which were valued at over $100 million. Even hedge funds submitted claims to try to tap into what they saw as free money.

On March 16, 2020, just five days after COVID-19 was declared a pandemic, the Dow suffered the worst single-day points drop in its history. But by June 4, seven of the world’s richest people had seen their fortunes increase by over 50%. Part of what made this possible was a stock-market rebound fueled both by the Paycheck Protection Program and actions by the Fed. Again, the Fed lowered short-term interest rates for banks to near 0%, and as before, they have promised to hold those rates low until the economy is on track.

This is a cycle that has happened time and time again. During the earthquake in Haiti in 2010, only 2.5% of the $195 million of relief funds went to Haitian companies. Much of the rest was awarded to DC-based construction companies. And when Hurricane Katrina struck New Orleans in 2005, real-estate developer Joseph Canizaro said the clearing out caused by Katrina represented some “very big opportunities.” Canizaro was selected as part of a panel to develop the Bring New Orleans Back plan, part of which put a stop on reconstruction of low-income neighborhoods until the residents returned. Of course, residents couldn’t return to their destroyed homes, and many were foreclosed on, paving the way for others to buy those properties and develop them.

When the time did come to rebuild New Orleans, the engineering and construction company KBR received no-bid contracts from the federal government for tens of millions of dollars. KBR received $31 billion in contracts from the government between 2001 and 2010. Vice President Dick Cheney served as CEO of KBR’s parent company, Halliburton, for the five years leading up to his two terms in office.

Combined with their immense investing and purchasing power, billionaires have had government resources in addition to their own resources to profit from during economic upheavals. And wealth-friendly tax laws and loopholes then keep those billionaires at the top. Legal structures such as limited liability companies protect personal assets from being repossessed to pay the debts from business downturns. As it’s set up today, IRS rules allowed Amazon to pay $0 in taxes two years in a row. When its bill finally came due in 2019, it paid just $162 million, a measly 1.2% of the company’s income that year.

And it’s not just Amazon. Taxes paid by billionaires have decreased 79% since 1980. And those are just the legal avenues that the wealthy take to avoid paying taxes. In 2017, researchers estimated that about 10% of the world’s GDP was stashed in offshore tax havens. A study in 2012 found that as much as $32 trillion was being held offshore by the world’s wealthiest people. READ MORE

How Billionaires GOT RICHER in the Pandemic

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. Even all the way to South Africa. We even restarted our weekly radio Bible study on Sunday nights again, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJV)

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TEHRAN SHOCKER: As Iran Reveals Massive Underground Missile Facilities, The Tide Of World War Trump May Be Shifting Away From US And Israel

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16 hours ago

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March 21, 2026

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Tehran has plenty more cards to play in World War Trump from anti-ship cruise missiles to activating allied militias and sleeper cells

The fourth week of open war between Iran, Israel, and the United States is not bringing de-escalation — it is exposing just how much the Iranian regime has been holding back. Tehran has now attempted a long-range missile strike on the U.S.-U.K. base at Diego Garcia, demonstrating a reach of roughly 2,500 miles, a capability far beyond what most analysts believed Iran possessed. That is not a warning shot — that is a revelation. Now would be a good time to start praying for all the US soldiers put in harm’s way. NTEB has long enjoyed support from a large sector of active duty US servicemen and women, and we love you guys right back, so go get’em. Semper Fi!

“Or what king, going to make war against another king, sitteth not down first, and consulteth whether he be able with ten thousand to meet him that cometh against him with twenty thousand?” Luke 14:31 (KJB)

The West has assumed escalation dominance, but Iran is now signaling that it can stretch this war far beyond the immediate region. A 2,500-mile strike capability brings U.S. bases, shipping lanes, and allied infrastructure into a much wider threat envelope. That changes the strategic equation overnight. The battlefield is no longer just Israel and its borders — it is rapidly becoming global. And here is the part no one wants to say out loud: if Iran still has capabilities it has not yet revealed, then what we have seen so far is only the opening phase. The idea that the tide is safely in favor of Israel and the United States is beginning to crack. Not because Iran is winning — but because Iran is proving it can prolong, expand, and complicate this war in ways that drain time, resources, and certainty from its enemies. Wars are not only won by firepower alone. They are won by endurance, positioning, and the ability to change the battlefield faster than your opponent can react. Right now, Iran is signaling it intends to do exactly that. Long-range missiles, proxy forces spread across the Middle East, maritime choke points, and asymmetric warfare tactics all remain firmly on the table. What we are watching is not collapse, but calculated escalation. This is the moment where miscalculation becomes catastrophe.

The hidden weapons Iran is keeping in reserve

FROM THE iPAPER: Iran is revealing new military capabilities as its war with Israel and the US enters its fourth week, and the regime still has more cards to play, from as-yet-unseen missiles to allied militias and sleeper cells abroad. The missiles fired at the US-UK Diego Garcia base demonstrated a range of around 2,400 miles, far beyond previous estimates of Iran’s capabilities.

Tehran’s military also deployed the Haj Qasem, a newly developed medium-range ballistic missile with a half-tonne warhead, for the first time this week. Iran’s most powerful weapon, the Khorramshahr-4, has been used in greater numbers in recent attacks. Regime officials remain bullish despite heavy personnel and material losses inflicted by US-Israeli air strikes, and are threatening escalation.

Brigadier General Mohammad Akraminia said in an interview this week that: “We are using weapons in this war that we have not used in the past, and we will use them more in the coming days.”

After a sharp decline in Iran’s rate of fire of missiles and drones after the first days of the conflict, open-source conflict trackers say both launches and hits have increased, amid reports of declining interceptor stockpiles in the region. Deep Dive Defence, a pro-Iran military analysis blog, said that Iran has been practicing a strategy of “low intensity preserving warfare” in the hope of exhausting the US, Israel and Gulf allies, leaving high-value targets exposed to more damaging strikes. This week, Iran claimed a series of confirmed impacts in Israel, including on the Haifa refinery and strikes on critical energy infrastructure across the Gulf region.

Iran continues to introduce surface-to-surface missiles to the war, and scored a notable success this week with a surface-to-air strike that brought a first hit on a US F-35 fighter jet. The US military said the aircraft was damaged but made an emergency landing, with the pilot in a stable condition. Iran has also tested – but not used in combat – space launch vehicles, such as the Simorgh and Zuljanah, which US analysts believe could be repurposed as long-range ballistic missiles, with a potential range in excess of 2,500 miles. Iran can achieve a similar range – sufficient to hit Diego Garcia – by reducing the size of the warhead on missiles such as the Khorramshahr-4, experts believe.

The regime is also known to have amassed a large stockpile of cruise missiles, including anti-ship variants that could prove effective in close-quarters fighting if naval vessels attempt to break its blockade of the strategic Strait of Hormuz. Farzan Sabet, an Iranian security and politics specialist at the Geneva Graduate Institute in Switzerland, said Iranian cruise missiles have not been effective in previous rounds of fighting against Israel but “could do more damage against less-prepared and nearer Gulf countries countries that have less time to track and intercept” them.

He added that its anti-ship missiles “could be very effective against civilian and even military vessels” in the narrow confines of the Hormuz Strait, although this has yet to be tested in practice. The US military has signaled its concern with a series of bunker-buster strikes along the coastline of the Strait that it said were targeting anti-ship cruise missile placements.

Donald Trump has pledged to seize control of the vital shipping route, and suggested the US Navy could provide escorts for oil tankers, but military planners are wary of exposing vessels to the dangers they would face, which could include marine drones and mines as well as missiles. READ MORE

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

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But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Artificial Intelligence

Pentagon Makes Stunning Move To Incorporate The Palantir Maven AI Smart System As A ‘Program Of Record’ For It’s Long-term Warfighting Lineup

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19 hours ago

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March 21, 2026

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The Pentagon has chosen the Palantir Maven AI War System software platform to become a ‘program of record’ in its warfighting lineup

While Peter Thiel is stationed across the street from the Vatican giving lectures on the coming Antichrist, his dystopian company Palantir is busy bringing in the Mark of the Beast System. To that point, news coming out of Washington this morning shows us that the Palantir Maven AI War System software has just been adopted by the Pentagon as a ‘program of record’. The Palantir site says that Maven “powers real-time, AI-driven decisions in critical government and commercial enterprises in the West, from the factory floors to the front lines.” What could possibly go wrong?

“For many deceivers are entered into the world, who confess not that Jesus Christ is come in the flesh. This is a deceiver and an antichrist.” 2 John 1:7 (KJB)

I know it feels like we are living in a movie like those Christian prophecy films from the 1990’s, but in reality, we are living in the days where prophecy is unfolding from the pages of your King James Bible. To a lost world, and even to the lukewarm Laodiceans who are saved but clueless, things are confusing and baffling as they bounce from one bad headline to another. But to those of us that read and believe The Book, it is crystal-clear what’s going on. World War Trump may or may not wind up being WW3, but sooner or later, that’s the station where this train is pulling into.

Pentagon to adopt Palantir Maven AI as core US military system

FROM YAHOO! FINANACE: Palantir Maven artificial intelligence system will become an official program of record, Deputy Secretary of Defense Steve Feinberg said in a letter to Pentagon leaders, a move that locks in long-term use of Palantir’s weapons-targeting ‌technology across the U.S. military.

In the March 9 letter to senior Pentagon leaders and U.S. military commanders, Feinberg said embedding Palantir’s Maven ‌Smart System would provide warfighters “with the latest tools necessary to detect, deter, and dominate our adversaries in all domains”. The decision is expected to go into effect by the close of the ​current fiscal year, which ends in September, according to the letter, which was reviewed by Reuters and has not been previously reported.

Maven is a command-and-control software platform that analyzes battlefield data and identifies targets. It is already the primary AI operating system for the U.S. military, which has carried out thousands of targeted strikes against Iran over the last three weeks.

Designating Maven as a program of record will streamline its adoption across all arms of the military and provide ‌stable, long-term funding, Feinberg said.

The memo ordered oversight of ⁠Maven be moved from the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency to the Pentagon’s Chief Digital Artificial Intelligence Office within 30 days. Future contracting with Palantir will be handled by the Army, the letter said.

“It is imperative that we invest now ⁠and with focus to deepen the integration of artificial intelligence (AI) across the Joint Force and establish AI-enabled decision-making as the cornerstone of our strategy,” Feinberg wrote. Palantir and the Pentagon did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Feinberg’s order is a significant win for Palantir, which has landed a growing ​stream ​of contracts with the U.S. government, including a deal announced last summer with the ​U.S. Army worth up to $10 billion. Those awards have helped ‌double the company’s stock price in the past year, lifting its market value to nearly $360 billion. Maven can rapidly analyze huge amounts of data from satellites, drones, radars, sensors and intelligence reports, and use AI to automatically identify potential threats or targets, like enemy military vehicles, buildings and weapons stockpiles. READ MORE

I Worked At Palantir: The Tech Company Reshaping Reality

A former Palantir employee is sounding the alarm. The tech company, founded by Peter Thiel, claims they can revolutionize government systems with their AI-powered software. They’ve been hired by the Department of Defense, the FBI, ICE, and even Wendy’s. Is Palantir the world’s most evil company? Watch and decide!

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

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Headline News

Missiles Are Falling In Jerusalem, America Preparing For Ground Invasion Of Iran, Stocks Plummet And Oil Skyrockets As The World Slides Toward The Edge

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1 day ago

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March 20, 2026

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Missiles Strike In And Around Jerusalem As Trump Considers Ground Invasion And Investors Dump Stocks On War Fears

Iran is not just firing missiles into Israel in general—they are now striking in and around Jerusalem, the city that God chose to place His name there. The spiritual and geopolitical epicenter of the earth is once again under direct attack, and the timing of it, alongside everything else unfolding, should not be lost on anyone paying attention. What began as retaliation has now become escalation, and Jerusalem is in the crosshairs. While all this is going on, the United States is moving steadily closer to full-scale war footing.

“Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.” Zechariah 12:2 (KJB)

Behind closed doors in Washington, Pentagon officials have done far more than talk. Detailed operational plans for deploying American ground forces into Iran have been drawn up and presented. Senior commanders are submitting specific requests, positioning troops, and preparing logistics for what could become the largest Middle East ground war in a generation.

This is not early discussion—this is late-stage preparation. And while missiles fall in Jerusalem and generals prepare for war, the financial system is reacting exactly how you would expect when the world senses that something big is coming. The markets are dropping hard. Traders are not confused—they understand escalation when they see it. A widening Middle East war, the potential for U.S. ground invasion, and threats to global oil supply are combining into a perfect storm. Oil prices are surging, volatility is spiking, and investor confidence is cracking under the weight of uncertainty.

This is how it always begins—not with a single collapse, but with a series of shocks that rattle the system until something finally gives way.

And now look at the full picture:

Everything is converging at once. Jerusalem under fire, America preparing for invasion, and the global financial system trembling. That is not coincidence—that is alignment. Because every time Jerusalem becomes the focal point of global conflict, the stakes are never just political. The city sits at the center of both world history and God’s prophetic timeline, and when it becomes the target, it signals that events are moving into a different phase.

Now The End Begins is your front line defense against the rising tide of darkness in the last Days before the Rapture of the Church

When you contribute to this fundraising effort, you are helping us to do what the Lord called us to do. The money you send in goes primarily to the overall daily operations of this site. When people ask for Bibles, we send them out at no charge. When people write in and say how much they would like gospel tracts but cannot afford them, we send them a box at no cost to them for either the tracts or the shipping, no matter where they are in the world. We have a Gospel Billboard program. We are now broadcasting Bible studies, Podcasts and a Sunday Service 5 times a week, thanks to your generous donations. All this is possible because YOU pray for us, YOU support us, and YOU give so we can continue growing.

nteb-free-king-james-bible-program-750-550

But whatever you do, don’t do nothing. Time is short and we need your help right now. The Lord has given us an open door with a tremendous ‘course’ for us to fulfill that will create an excellent experience at the Judgement Seat of Christ. Please pray for our efforts, and if the Lord leads you to donate, be as generous as possible. The war is REAL, the battle HOT and the time is SHORT…TO THE FIGHT!!!

“Looking for that blessed hope, and the glorious appearing of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ;” Titus 2:13 (KJB)

“Thank you very much!” – Geoffrey, editor-in-chief, NTEB

Continue Reading

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