If you are rich you have a number of advantages in a crisis of any sort, global or personal. If you are rich you can diversify your assets away from property and cash - into commodities, stocks, bonds, art, luxury goods, gold and so on. If you are rich you can loose significant percentages, even the majority of your net worth and not worry. This allows you to have liquidity when assets are very cheap, at the bottom, and then you can get those assets! In a crisis there is more bad luck about, poor people are wiped out by a drip of bad luck, rich people need a big dollop, only a few people get a big dollop of bad luck. Only the tail of the distribution of rich people are wiped out, the tail of poor people don't.
Sure, but if you go from a net work of 7 million to a net worth of 3 million, that's a different type of loss than going from a net worth of ~250,000 to a net worth of ~0 because you lost your house and are in debt up to your eyeballs.
Actual rich people benefit. Highly leveraged “rich” suffer.
I have an acquaintance who is a big landlord. The housing crash was literally the best thing that ever happened to him. He literally bought dozens of properties all of the place because he sits on big piles of cash and has generous credit lines backed by his cash flow.
My guess is that he spent about $10M and netted at least 3x from the 2008 crash.
Depends on their reserves vs active business investments and if stability can be maintained. Recessions are good for people with liquid reserves and sufficiently unaffected supporting ability as they can acquire assets at fire sale prices and then reap profits once recovery comes. It sounds exploitative but serves a useful function as without them the liquidating party would be extra screwed.