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How rich are the super-rich? You can't imagine

Also in Tattle: Serena Williams, Alexis Ohanian, Ben Mendelsohn, Trey Songz, Prince Harry, Meghan Markle and George R.R. Martin

U.S. President Barack Obama presents Bill and Melinda Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 honoring 21 recipients in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.
U.S. President Barack Obama presents Bill and Melinda Gates with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during a ceremony on Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016 honoring 21 recipients in the East Room of the White House in Washington, D.C.Read moreOlivier Douliery/Abaca Press/TNS

STARTING JAN. 20, it's going to be great to be unemployed or working-class, but in 2016, as in every year before it, it was great to be rich.

Odds are you got richer.

And if you were super-rich?

Ka-ching.

According to Bloomberg, the world's richest 200 rich people increased their net worth this year by $237 billion as of Tuesday - so there's still time left to net a few more nickels.

That brings the wealth of the top 200 to a staggering $4.4 trillion. Trillion. As in more than four thousand billion.

Tattle knows these are big numbers, and Americans are notoriously bad at math, but let's try to give them perspective.

Two hundred people, we can all agree, is not a lot. If you read Tattle on the subway, there could be 200 people on the train with you.

That $4.4 trillion number, however, is a big one.

If those 200 rich folks could convert their vast holdings into cash and were feeling particularly generous, they could make 3,400 different people billionaires and still have a trillion bucks left over for themselves (about $5 billion each).

Or . . . They could make 3.4 million people millionaires and toodle off with their remaining trillion.

According to census data, the median household income in the U.S. in 2015 was approximately $56,000. If the exceedingly generous Top 200 wanted to let these families take a year off from earning without lowering their income, they could put their trillion in their back pocket and gift close to 18 million families.

They could also pay all of the $3.3 trillion the U.S. government takes in through income taxes each year (individual and corporate) and still hang on to a trillion for their own expenses.

Get that, regular folk. The 200 richest people in the world could pay every American's taxes this year and still be richer than you.

Richest of the rich is Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, whose net worth is supposed to be $85.9 billion, but honestly, once we got to $85.8 billion, we stopped rolling the quarters.

Bloomberg noted that if Gates were to live another 100 years (unlikely) and wanted to die penniless (unlikely), he would have to spend $2.3 million per day to clean himself out.

And if you're wondering where the richest of the rich have been getting this increased wealth, you only need to look in the mirror.

A study released earlier this month by economics professors Thomas Piketty, Emmanuel Saez and Gabriel Zucman shows that since 1980, the top one percent has seen their piece of the pie increase from 12 percent to 20 percent. The bottom 50 percent of the U.S. population has seen their piece of the pie shrink from . . . wait for it . . . wait for it . . . 20 percent to 12 percent.

And on that note, Tattle wishes you a happy, healthy and prosperous 2017.

TATTBITS

* E! News reports that tennis star

Serena Williams

is engaged to boyfriend

Alexis Ohanian

.

He's the co-founder of Reddit.

The couple has been tennis courting since 2015.

* On the flip side, court records show actor Ben Mendelsohn's wife, Emma Forrest, has filed for divorce from the Rogue One star.

Forrest filed for divorce from the Emmy-winning actor (Bloodline) in Los Angeles Superior Court last Friday, citing, what else, irreconcilable differences.

The couple has been married four years, and she's seeking physical custody of their 3-year-old daughter.

* Singer Trey Songz has been charged with aggravated assault and assaulting a police officer after authorities said he threw microphones and speakers from the stage during Wednesday night's performance at Detroit's Joe Louis Arena.

The Wayne County prosecutor's office says Songz (a.k.a. Tremaine Neverson) was arraigned Thursday.

Officer Dan Donakowski, a police spokesman, says Songz became "upset and belligerent" after he was told to end his concert and leave the stage at 11:30 p.m.

Prosecutors say someone was struck in the head by an object, and an officer was punched.

Songz' next court date is Jan. 5. He was released Thursday after posting bond.

The Detroit News reports Chris Brown and Lil Yachty also performed at the concert.

* The Washington Post reports that Google has confirmed that Prince Harry's girlfriend Meghan Markle (Suits) was the most-searched actress of 2016. Brad Pitt was the most-searched actor.

House keys were the most searched for object.

* The Washington Post thankfully reads Game of Thrones author George R.R. Martin's blog.

In a post titled "A Bad Year Gets Worse," Martin mourned the passing of two of his heroes: Carrie Fisher and Watership Down author Richard Adams.

"Death, death and more death . . . this year just keeps getting worse and worse," Martin wrote.

He then returned to writing his next book where he decapitated a family ruling one of the seven kingdoms and hung them by their intestines.

- Daily News wire services

contributed to this report.

gensleh@phillynews.com

215-854-5678 @DNTattle