The Invisible Super-Rich? A Quantitative Analysis of the Press Coverage of Germany’s Wealth Elite

Abstract

Public visibility plays a crucial role in how inequality becomes publicly recognised and debated. Yet we know little about how often the very wealthy appear in the public sphere. This study examines the public visibility and invisibility among Germany’s 1718 richest individuals using Manager Magazin rich lists and a unique corpus of 143,774 press articles from eight German outlets (2001–2023). Nearly one-quarter of the rich remain entirely invisible, and most others are mentioned only sporadically. Visibility varies systematically with the historical origins of wealth. While the press more often features owners of old dynastic fortunes and newly accumulated wealth, those owning fortunes rooted in the interwar and National Socialist periods remain largely invisible. Such selective invisibility shapes what aspects of wealth become publicly knowable, thereby limiting the societal scrutiny and debate through which inequality can be recognised, discussed and politically challenged.