Yaaayy…
The 5th edition of the Wealth-X Billionaire Census dropped this week, and it looks like the super rich are getting super-richer — billionaires’ combined assets increased by 24% to $9.2T.
Meanwhile, the mere very rich are rising in the ranks: about 357 newcomers joined the “tres comma” club last year.
Every time The Bell rings, a billionaire goes “cha-ching”
You know, the Wall Street Bell. It’s a perfect metaphor, people.
The census concludes that “climbing equity markets” caused billionaires to stack cash across all regions — particularly in China, where billionaires’ wealth grew by nearly 36%, crushing the 10% increase stateside (the US still houses the greatest number of billionaires at 680).
As of 2017, just 10 people can claim a $50B+ net worth, while 1.3k plebes sit in the $1-2B tier.
Here are a few of our favorite Big B’s:
- Top dawg: Fan favorite Jeff Bezos surpassed Bill Gates last year to become the world’s richest person at $133B.
- World’s first: Ripple made co-founder Chris Larsen the world’s first crypto billionaire last year, briefly skyrocketing him to $60B… before gently drop-kicking him back to a modest $4.6B.
- Richest-sounding name: Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, 33% owner of cosmetic brand L’Oreal. When your name is 3 things, you know you come from old money. At $48B, she’s also the richest woman in the world.
Oh, and while we’re on the subject, lady billionaires grew 18% last year — faster than male billionaires for the first time in the history of the census.
The post The world made more billionaires than ever in 2017 appeared first on The Hustle.
(via The Hustle)
