Billionaire Explained

A billionaire is a person with a net worth of at least one billion units of a given currency, usually of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. It is a sub-category of the concept of the ultra high-net-worth individual. The American business magazine Forbes produces a global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an internet version of this list in real time.[1] The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916.[2]

there are over 2,200 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$9.1 trillion, up from in 2017.[3] [4] According to a 2017 Oxfam report, the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as the "bottom half of the human race".[5] [6] As of 2021, eight people have reached the status of USD centibillionaires, meaning that each has had a net worth of at least $100 billion.[7]

Current U.S. dollar billionaires

See also: The World's Billionaires. According to the UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2019 report released in November 2019, there are currently 2,101 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, from 66 countries, with a combined net worth of $8.5 trillion.[8] [9] Also according to the report, billionaires have a substantial positive impact on the sustainability and success of companies controlled by them. Billionaire-controlled companies listed on the equity market returned 17.8 percent, compared with the 9.1 percent of the MSCI AC World Index. According to the authors of the report, this Billionaire Effect is connected with smart risk-taking and willingness to plan and invest for the long term.

The majority of billionaires are male, as fewer than 11% (197 of 1,826) on the 2015 list were female billionaires. The United States has the largest number of billionaires of any country, with 536,[10] while China, India and Russia are home to 213, 90 and 88 billionaires, respectively.[11], only 46 billionaires were under the age of 40,[10] while the list of American-only billionaires, as of 2010, had an average age of 66.[12]

Different authorities use different methodologies to determine net worth and to rank them, and not all information about personal finances is publicly available. In 2019, Forbes counted a record 607 billionaires in the U.S..[13] Over the course of the 2020s, depending on the source and the year, the world's richest person has been reckoned to be Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and family, or Elon Musk.

In 2019, 19 people became billionaires. Four were a result of death or divorce, including Julia Koch, and Jeff Bezos's former wife MacKenzie Scott.[14] From 2014 to 2019, the number of female billionaires grew by 46%. That is more than the number of male billionaires in the same period (39%). As of 2019 there were 233 female billionaires in the world, compared to 160 in 2013.

Education and work experience

Billionaires come from a very wide number of backgrounds. A review of the education and work histories of the top 400 billionaires shows little correlation between education and success. Nearly 30% of billionaires do not have a college degree, greatly exceeding any other educational background. The most common field of university education was finance and economics, which only contributed to a combined 15.5% of billionaire educations.[15] [16] There is little correlation between any university and becoming a billionaire. The top 10 universities produced just 99 of the top 400 billionaires combined, significantly less than the total number of billionaires who were not college educated. Military service produced 21 billionaires, more than any single university.

Very few college-educated billionaires pursued business interests in their field of study, with the exception of computer science majors. All twelve of the computer science major billionaires worked in computer science, while only half of engineers worked in engineering, and less than a quarter of finance and economics majors ever worked in finance or economics. The most common field for billionaires to enter was sales and military service.

Inequality

See also: Ultra high-net-worth individual. According to a 2016 Oxfam report, the wealth of the poorest 95% dropped by 38% between 2010 and 2015, due to an increase in the global population of 400 million. In the same period, the wealth of the richest 62 people between the World's Billionaires increased by $500bn (£350bn) to $1.76tn. More recently, in 2017 an Oxfam report noted that just eight billionaires have as much net worth as "half the human race".[5] [6] However, the Oxfam report has been criticized for considering debt as negative wealth, which leads to wealthy people with large amounts of debt to be considered poor or not wealthy.[17]

Statistics

These aggregated statistics for billionaires include the total number of known billionaires and the net worth of the world's wealthiest individual for each year since 2008. Data for each year is from the annual Forbes list of billionaires, with currency figures given in U.S. dollars. Data since 2018 also includes the Wealth-X billionaire census which typically finds higher numbers than Forbes.

Year Total number of
billionaires 		Combined wealth of
known billionaires 		Number of billionaires World's wealthiest
individual
GermanRussianNameNet worth
2021[18] 2755724626140136117Elon Musk$320 billion[19]
2020[20] [21] 2,095$10.2 trillion61438910299Jeff Bezos$188 billion
2019[22] [23] 2,153–2,604 $8.6–8.7 trillion 609–705 285–324 82–106 98–102 Jeff Bezos$131 billion
2018[24] 2,208–2,754 $9.1–9.2 trillion 585–680 338–372 117–119 96–111 $133 billion
20172,043 $7.71 trillion 565 319 101 106 Jeff Bezos$99.6 billion
2016 1,810 $6.48 trillion 540 251 9075 Bill Gates$75 billion
2015[25] 1,826 $7.05 trillion 536 213 88 88 $79.2 billion
2014[26] 1,645 $6.4 trillion 492 152 56[27] 111 $78 billion
2013[28] 1,426 $5.4 trillion 442 122 – 110 $73 billion
2012[29] 1,226 $4.6 trillion 425 95 – 96 Carlos Slim$73 billion
2011[30] 1,210 $4.5 trillion 413 115 – 101 Carlos Slim$74 billion
2010[31] 1,011 $3.6 trillion 404 89 – 62 Carlos Slim$53.5 billion
2009[32] 793 $2.4 trillion 359 28 – 32 Bill Gates$40 billion
2008[33] 1,125 $4.4 trillion 470 – – 87 $62 billion

See also

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Miller. Matthew. Kroll. Luisa. Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man. Forbes. 10 March 2010. 7 June 2010. 26 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110926014457/http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/09/worlds-richest-people-slim-gates-buffett-billionaires-2010-intro.html. live.
  2. O'Donnell. Carl. 11 July 2014. 7 January 2014. The Rockefellers: The Legacy Of History's Richest Man. Forbes. 20 November 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20161120052423/http://www.forbes.com/sites/carlodonnell/2014/07/11/the-rockefellers-the-legacy-of-historys-richest-man/. live.
  3. Web site: Forbes Billionaires 2018: Meet The Richest People On The Planet. Luisa. Kroll. Forbes. March 6, 2018. March 6, 2018. 8 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180308165924/https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2018/03/06/forbes-billionaires-2018-meet-the-richest-people-on-the-planet/. live.
  4. News: Forbes 2017 billionaires list: Meet the richest people on the planet. Kroll. Luisa. Forbes. 12 March 2018. Dolan. Kerry A.. 13 March 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180313094520/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2017/03/20/forbes-2017-billionaires-list-meet-the-richest-people-on-the-planet/ . live.
  5. Ratcliff . Anna . Just 8 men own same wealth as half the world. 16 January 2017. Oxfam. 16 January 2017. 16 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116191825/https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world. live.
  6. News: Mullany. Gerry. World's 8 Richest Have as Much Wealth as Bottom Half of Global Population. 16 January 2017. The New York Times. 17 January 2017. 16 January 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170116211255/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/world/eight-richest-wealth-oxfam.html. live.
  7. News: Lee. Yoojung. 12 April 2021. Elite $100 Billion Club Gets Two New Members via Tech Boom . Bloomberg News . 24 June 2021. 25 June 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210625010229/https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-12/elite-100-billion-club-gets-two-new-members-via-tech-boom. live.
  8. Web site: UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2019. UBS.com. en. 2019-12-20. 7 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191207161630/https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20191108-ubs-pwc-billionaires-report-2019.html. live.
  9. Web site: Billionaires insights 2018. Billionaires insights. en. 2019-12-20. 20 December 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191220235153/https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealth-management/uhnw/billionaires-report.html. live.
  10. Web site: Behind the Numbers in Forbes' Billionaires List . . 2 March 2015 . 12 March 2018 . 26 July 2018 . https://web.archive.org/web/20180726235455/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/02/behind-the-numbers-in-forbes-billionaires-list . live .
  11. Web site: A Record 90 Indians On Forbes Billionaires List 2015. 3 March 2015. Forbes. 9 August 2015. 2 August 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150802075653/http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2015/03/03/a-record-90-indians-on-forbes-billionaires-list-2015/. live.
  12. News: Rappeport. Alan. Brics becoming billionaire factory. 20 May 2011. Financial Times. 9 March 2011. 9 June 2020. https://web.archive.org/web/20200609103013/https://www.ft.com/content/bc9b6d80-4a8d-11e0-82ab-00144feab49a#axzz1MvizGKiW. live.
  13. Web site: Real Time Billionaires. 2020-09-08. Forbes. en. 25 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120425042103/https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/. live.
  14. News: Newcomers: These 19 Billionaires Join the Forbes 400 List in 2019 . . 3 October 2019 . 2019-09-15 . 24 January 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210124152835/https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2019/10/02/2019-forbes-400-newcomers/ . live .
  15. Web site: Shen. Lucinda. 8 August 2016. You'd be Surprised How Many Billionaires Don't Have a College Degree. fortune.com. 12 May 2021. 16 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516003645/https://fortune.com/2016/08/08/billionaires-no-degree/. live.
  16. Web site: Forrest. Conner. These 10 college majors have created more billionaires than any other fields of study. TechRepublic. 23 October 2018. 12 May 2021. 16 May 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210516003646/https://www.techrepublic.com/article/these-10-college-majors-have-created-more-billionaires-than-any-other-fields-of-study/. live.
  17. Web site: Are 26 billionaires worth more than half the planet? The debate, explained.. 22 January 2019. vox.com. 8 November 2019. 8 November 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20191108093033/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth. live.
  18. Web site: The Countries with the Most Billionaires 2021 . 2024-02-27 . www.forbes.com.
  19. Web site: Team . Forbes Wealth . The Top 10 Richest People In The World (February 2024) . 2024-02-27 . Forbes . en.
  20. Web site: Moskowitz. Dan. 13 July 2021. A Look at the 10 Richest People in the World. live. 2021-07-20. Investopedia. en. https://web.archive.org/web/20150130172139/http://www.investopedia.com:80/articles/investing/012715/5-richest-people-world.asp . 30 January 2015 .
  21. Web site: The Countries with the Most Billionaires 2020. 2021-07-20. www.forbes.com. 20 July 2021. https://web.archive.org/web/20210720110059/https://www.forbes.com/stories/billionaires/the-countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2020/. live.
  22. Web site: Billionaires 2019. Forbes. 13 March 2019. 5 March 2019. 4 January 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190104180124/https://www.forbes.com/billionaires/list/3/#698401a8251c. live.
  23. Web site: Top 15 countries with the most billionaires, ranked. Amarendra. Dhiraj. Business Insider. 2019-05-16. 2019-11-25. 2 June 2019. https://web.archive.org/web/20190602221426/https://www.businessinsider.com/countries-with-the-most-billionaires-2019-5. live.
  24. News: Number of billionaires worldwide surged to 2,754 in 2017. The Guardian. 18 May 2018. en. 18 May 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180518011705/https://www.theguardian.com/business/2018/may/15/number-of-billionaires-worldwide-wealth-x-census. live.
  25. Web site: Inside The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List: Facts And Figures. Forbes. 2 March 2015. 3 March 2015. 28 June 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180628205305/https://www.forbes.com/sites/kerryadolan/2015/03/02/inside-the-2015-forbes-billionaires-list-facts-and-figures/. live.
  26. Web site: Billionaires. Forbes. 3 March 2014. 17 March 2014. 14 March 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140314095852/http://www.forbes.com/sites/forbespr/2014/03/03/forbes-releases-28th-annual-worlds-billionaires-issue/. live.
  27. Web site: Indian Billionaires 2014: Big Winners, Big Losers. Forbes. 3 March 2014. 9 August 2015. 12 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150912182247/http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2014/03/03/indian-billionaires-2014big-winners-big-losers/. live.
  28. Web site: Inside The 2013 Billionaires List. Forbes. 25 March 2013. 20 October 2014. 13 July 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180713175059/https://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2013/03/04/inside-the-2013-billionaires-list-facts-and-figures/. live.
  29. Web site: Forbes World's Billionaires 2012. Forbes. 7 March 2012. 20 October 2014. 8 March 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120308052054/http://www.forbes.com/sites/luisakroll/2012/03/07/forbes-worlds-billionaires-2012/. live.
  30. Web site: World's Billionaires 2011: A Record Year In Numbers, Money And Impact. Forbes. 9 March 2011. 1 April 2012. 15 April 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120415053549/http://www.forbes.com/2011/03/08/world-billionaires-2011-intro.html. live.
  31. Web site: Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man. Forbes. 10 March 2010. 1 April 2012. 26 September 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110926014457/http://www.forbes.com/2010/03/09/worlds-richest-people-slim-gates-buffett-billionaires-2010-intro.html. live.
  32. Web site: The World's Billionaires. Forbes. 11 March 2009. 1 April 2012. 27 April 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20110427122524/http://www.forbes.com/2009/03/11/worlds-richest-people-billionaires-2009-billionaires-intro.html. live.
  33. Web site: World's Billionaires. Forbes. 5 March 2008. 1 April 2012. 6 June 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120606201349/http://www.forbes.com/2008/03/05/richest-billionaires-people-billionaires08-cx_lk_0305intro.html. live.

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