Money makes the world go ‘round, and in 2024, there’s more money around the world than ever before. There are now a record 2,781 people on Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list, worth a record $14.2 trillion in all. They hail from 78 countries, up from 77 in 2023.
The U.S. remains the country with the most billionaire citizens, with 813 who are collectively worth $5.7 trillion, both records. America’s billionaire class is $1.2 trillion richer than last year, thanks in part to the 97 people who joined or re-joined the ranks this year, with notable newcomers including Taylor Swift, NBA Legend Magic Johnson and OpenAI CEO Sam Altman. Fourteen of the top 20 richest people in the world are U.S. citizens, including eight of the top ten. The richest person in the world, however, is once again France’s Bernard Arnault, CEO of luxury goods giant LVMH, who is worth an estimated $233 billion.
China has the second most billionaires, with 406 worth $1.3 trillion; however, that’s down from 496 people last year who were worth a total of $1.67 trillion. (67 Hong Kongers add another $330 billion.) A major property slump is mostly to blame, along with a stock market rout that wiped out billions for China’s ultra-rich over the past three years.
India, the world’s most populous country came in third. The country saw a record 200 billionaires this year, including 25 newcomers. In total, they are worth a collective $954 billion, a more than 40% jump from $675 billion last year. Two Indian citizens ranked in the top 20: Mukesh Ambani, chairman of the sprawling conglomerate Reliance Industries, came in at No. 9 and Gautam Adani, chairman of the Ahmedabad-based conglomerate Adani Group, ranked No. 17.
Once again, Germany has the fourth-highest number of billionaires, with 132, up from 126 last year. Germans, as a group, are $59 billion richer than a year ago. Among the newcomers are Martin Klenk, Bastian Nominacher and Alexander Rinke, the three cofounders of Munich-based data processing unicorn Celonis.
Rounding out the top five is Russia, a country that continues to enjoy a wealth rebound despite its war with Ukraine. The total number of Russian billionaires climbed to 120 this year, 15 more than last year and 37 more than in 2022. They are worth $537 billion in all, a $217 billion increase from 2022, when Russia invaded Ukraine, triggering sanctions from the U.S., U.K. and the European Union, among others.
The only new country to join the list this year: Luxembourg. The tiny European nation known as a tax haven for some of the world’s wealthiest now has a billionaire citizen of its own in Michael Gans, the Luxembourg-born minority owner of Supreme Group, a food, fuel and logistics provider based in the Netherlands. Uruguay, meanwhile, is back in the ranks, with returnees Andres Bzurovski Bay and Sergio Fogel, cofounders of Montevideo-based international payments startup dLocal, who had dropped off the list in 2023.
Source: Forbes
