This is the first time I've seen this, but some quick maths...
7 billion+ in the world. Top 1% is 70 million+. Not a small number.
You have a few areas with poverty on a massive scale, Africa, China, India, Latin America, South East Asia, Eastern Europe etc. Add them all together and you have much more than half the world's population already.
A quick google shows this article. It says you need to make $34000 a year to fit into that category. (
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2082385/We-1--You-need-34k-income-global-elite--half-worlds-richest-live-U-S.html). Chances are you make something similar or know a few that does.
Not that its not a sad situation, but its not as alarming as it sounds and has existed for a long, long time.