As the rich get richer, the post-coronavirus world will also offer new investment opportunities

Just like 2008, expect the billionaires to profit from a crisis, but watch for the investment world to change with chances to make money in farming, food, sustainable energy and staycation hotels, writes Chris Blackhurst

Farmland, which was a sure bet before the lockdown, is set to ascend even higher in value (AFP/Getty)

The voice on the phone sounded buoyant. Its billionaire owner was telling me how he was looking forward to the coming period. “Once it’s over,” he said, “there’ll be loads of opportunities.”

I know the rich are different, but listening to him I did feel as though I was hearing someone from another planet (as it was he was speaking from the Med, with his superyacht moored nearby). And I also remembered that after the crisis in 2008, the rich became even richer.

Indeed, according to the Sunday Times Rich List, between 2009 and 2019, billionaire wealth in Britain saw a more than fivefold increase (rising by 423 per cent). This, while much of the rest of the country was grappling with the aftermath of the banking crash and the effects of austerity.