Washington [US], December 6: On December 5, Switzerland's largest bank UBS, one of the world's largest asset management companies, said the number of USD billionaires has increased from 1,757 to 2,682 people in the past 10 years, peaking in 2021 with 2,686 people, according to AFP.
The data comes in the bank's 10th annual report, which tracks the wealth of the world's richest people. UBS found that billionaires have outperformed global stock markets over the past decade.
Between 2015 and 2024, billionaires' total wealth increased by 121% from $6.3 trillion to $14 trillion, while the MSCI AC World Index, which measures stock market performance, increased by 73%.
That fortune is only surpassed by the 2023 GDP of the United States ($27.36 trillion) and China ($17.794 trillion), and is more than three times that of Germany ($4.456 trillion), according to the World Bank. According to Forbes ' real-time billionaires list , Elon Musk is the richest person in the world with $343 billion.
Fastest-Getting Rich Tech Billionaire
Tech billionaires ' wealth grew the fastest, followed by industrialists. Globally, tech billionaires ' wealth tripled from $788.9 billion in 2015 to $2.4 trillion in 2024.
"In previous years, the new billionaires commercialized e-commerce, social media, and digital payments; more recently, they have fueled the artificial intelligence (AI) boom, while also developing cybersecurity, fintech, 3D printing, and robotics," UBS said.
The report found that since 2020, the global growth trend has slowed due to a decline in the number of Chinese billionaires . The wealth of Chinese billionaires increased from $887.3 billion in 2015 to $2.1 trillion in 2020, but has since fallen to $1.8 trillion.
In 2024, some 268 people became billionaires for the first time, of whom 60% were self-made entrepreneurs. The report said that American billionaires had the biggest increase in 2024, cementing the country's position as the world's hub for billionaire entrepreneurs.
Billionaires face an "uncertain world" over the next 10 years, due to heightened geopolitical tensions, trade barriers and governments with increasing spending demands, UBS said.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper
