Add Yahoo as a preferred source to see more of our stories on Google. Hundreds of millionaires and billionaires have signed an open letter demanding higher taxes on the super-rich arguing that global oligarchs have "taken over our government", "deepened poverty" and "accelerated the breakdown of our planet.

The share of total wealth held by the richest Americans is now at the highest level since World War II. The top 1% of households controlled 31.

Oxfam said this week that a record number of billionaires were created last year. Nearly 400 people who say they are "a person of wealth" signed an open letter calling for global leaders to increase taxes on the superrich.