Large companies and the very rich made a killing last year, while the U.S. wealth gap became wider than ever. Here’s everything you need to know:

Who has benefited?
Tech giants, many major corporations, and Wall Street investors have had eye-popping gains during the pandemic, even as the COVID-19 recession has devastated major sectors of the economy. Apple’s total stock value climbed to $2.29 trillion, up 133 percent since March. Amazon’s share price increased by 70 percent. As the stock market set records — fueled by stuck-at-home Americans dependent on online shopping and aggressive Federal Reserve interventions — the fortunes of the 659 U.S. billionaires grew by more than $1 trillion, making the elite group’s wealth nearly double that of the bottom 50 percent of Americans — 165 million people. Meanwhile, just 12 million jobs of the 22 million lost last spring have been recovered, and more than 400,000 small businesses have closed for good. Economists predict a “K-shaped” recovery, with the poor getting poorer and the rich getting richer, especially those at the very top.

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Why the big payday?
Life under quarantine has been a boon for e-commerce retailers like Amazon, Target, Walmart, and Best Buy; food delivery services like DoorDash; and streaming services like Netflix. Restless consumers not spending money on restaurants and travel are splurging at Home Depot and Lowe’s for home-improvement projects, and on video games for escapism. Restaurant chains that prioritize drive-through and takeout, like McDonald’s and Popeye’s, are thriving, while communications services Zoom and Slack hit the jackpot when millions of Americans began working from home. Independent merchants and brick-and-mortar retailers can barely compete, because of pandemic restrictions and well-founded public fear of indoor gatherings, and have lost so much market share that it could put them at a permanent, dire disadvantage. “Once you kill competition, it’s always hard to restore it,” said Matt Stoller, director of research at the American Economic Liberties Project. “This is an extinction-level event for small businesses.”