According to Wealth-X’s research, in 2015 there were 2,473 billionaires in the world – a 6.4 percent increase from the year before.
Billionaires are now wealthy beyond belief – and they are getting much wealthier than the broader ultra-high-net-worth (UHNW) population, which is defined as anyone with more than $30 million.
In 2015, there were 212,615 Billionaires and UHNWIs:
• At the bottom end, 155,050 people worth between $30 million and $99 million had a combined wealth of $8.4 trillion.
• At the top end, the world’s 2,473 billionaires were worth a combined total of $7.68 trillion.
• The Top 10 — nine from the United States, one from Spain — have a combined net worth of $582 billion.
Overall, the pace of growth in billionaires worldwide is predicted to slow in line with economic growth around the world. Wealth-X reports that by 2020 the number will actually decline by 16 percent to 3,250, from an earlier prediction of 3,873.
Number of Billionaires on Wealth-X’s list by Sector
1. Finance has 377 (15 percent of the world’s billionaires).
2. Industrial conglomerates, with 317 (13 percent).
3. Global real estate is third with 141.
4. Non-profits (i.e. they made their money some other way or inherited it) has 122.
5. Manufacturing has 120.
6. Technology has 114 (NB six of the top 10 billionaires made their money in technology).
Where Are They?
Although billionaires in the United States are often better known, there are actually more billionaires in Europe (though they have less total wealth than their American counterparts).
According to research from UBS, a new billionaire is created every three days in Asia. Two-thirds of the region’s billionaires are in China, where the number continues to rise quickly.
Excerpts taken from the New York Times article, “The Most Exclusive Club.”
