It turns out 2023 was a great year to be rich … really rich.
The world’s club of billionaires is becoming less exclusive, admitting 141 more people to swell its ranks to a record 2,781.
That’s 26 more than the previous peak in 2021.
They also became collectively wealthier, with their estimated fortunes rising by $US2 trillion last year to $US14.2 trillion ($21.8 trillion).
To put that mammoth number in context, the entire annual economic output of Australia is somewhere around the $2 trillion mark, so it would take more than a decade to generate the wealth held by the world’s billionaires.
“It’s been an amazing year for the world’s richest people, with more billionaires around the world than ever before,” says Chase Peterson-Withorn, Forbes senior editor, wealth.
“A record-breaking 14 centibillionaires have 12-figure fortunes.
“Even during times of financial uncertainty for many, the super-rich continue to thrive.”
No doubt inflation has contributed, especially the continued inflation of asset prices, with share values generally up and real estate also rising globally.
But there’s growing inequality, even within the billionaires’ circle.
The top 20 richest people in the world accounted for around a third of the gain in wealth over the past year.
The 14 people in the $US100 billion-plus club are 255% wealthier than they were just a decade ago with a total fortune around $US2 trillion.
Number one on the list for the second year running was Bernard Arnault, who owns French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH.
His net worth grew 10% to $US233 billion, helped by the fact that there are some many more ultra-wealthy people with cash to burn on expensive handbags, clothes, perfumes and booze.
Key newcomers on the list included fashion designer Christian Louboutin, NBA legend Magic Johnson, TV producer Dick Wolf and musician Taylor Swift — looks like the Eras tour really paid off.
While Elon Musk remains in second spot, his wealth of $US195 billion is well down on a peak above $US300 billion in November 2021.
Musk just pipped Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($US194 billion), with Meta’s Mark Zuckerberg, Oracle’s Larry Ellison, investor Warren Buffett, Microsoft’s Bill Gates and Steve Ballmer, Mukesh Ambani who owns India’s Reliance Industries and Google’s Larry Page rounding out the top ten.
The US continues to dominate the rich list, with 813 billionaires worth $US5.7 trillion, China was second with 473 holding $US1.7 trillion, while India ranked third with 200 billionaires worth $954 billion.
China lost 129 billionaires over the past year, with the real estate bust and weak consumer spending wiping out $200 million in wealth amid some big falls on China’s main share markets.
Wealth also can’t completely protect you from death, with 32 billionaires passing on their wealth over the past year, including Mohamed Al-Fayed and Silvio Berlusconi.
The 2024 Forbes rich list was compiled as a snapshot of wealth using stock prices and exchange rates from March 8, 2024 and you can find the full list on the Forbes website.
