Billionaire

A billionaire is defined as a person whose net worth reaches or exceeds one billion units of a major currency such as the United States dollar, euro, or pound sterling. This group is a subset of the broader classification known as ultra high-net-worth individual. The American business publication Forbes releases an annual ranking of billionaires measured in U.S. dollars and also offers a continuously updated online list. The first verified individual to attain U.S. dollar billionaire status was the American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller in 1916.

As of , there are 2,781 billionaires globally, whose combined fortunes surpass US$14.2 trillion, an increase from US$12.2 trillion recorded in 2023. A 2024 report by Oxfam revealed that the wealthiest 1% worldwide control more assets than 95% of the population and possess 43% of all global financial wealth. By October 2024, seventeen people had achieved centibillionaire status, each with a net worth exceeding $100 billion.

Current U.S. dollar billionaires

The UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2019 identified 2,101 billionaires denominated in U.S. dollars across 66 nations, collectively holding $8.5 trillion in net assets. Companies owned by billionaires and listed on stock exchanges generated returns of 17.8%, significantly outperforming the 9.1% gain of the MSCI AC World Index. This phenomenon, known as the "Billionaire Effect," is attributed to prudent risk management and long-term investment approaches.

Men constitute the vast majority of billionaires; in 2015, women represented less than 11% (197 out of 1,826) of those listed. The United States ranked highest with 536 billionaires in 2015, followed by China with 213, India with 90, and Russia with 88. Only 46 individuals under age 40 were billionaires that year, while the average age among American billionaires was reported as 66 in 2010.

Net worth estimates vary depending on the methodology employed by different sources. Forbes recorded an unprecedented total of 607 U.S.-based billionaires in 2019. Throughout the early 2020s, key figures among the richest have included Jeff Bezos, Bernard Arnault and family, along with Elon Musk.

In 2019 alone, nineteen new billionaires emerged, four of whom inherited their wealth or acquired it through divorce settlements—examples include Julia Koch and MacKenzie Scott. Between 2014 and 2019, the number of female billionaires increased by 46%, outpacing the male growth rate of 39%; by 2019, there were 233 female billionaires worldwide compared to 160 in 2013.

Education and work experience

Billionaires hail from a variety of educational and professional backgrounds, showing minimal correlation between formal education and amassed wealth. Nearly three-tenths do not hold a college degree, constituting the largest single educational category within this group. Among those with university education, finance and economics are the most common fields but account for only 15.5% of billionaire degrees. The top ten universities combined produced merely 99 out of the top 400 billionaires—fewer than those without any college education. Military service is notable among billionaires as well, with twenty-one having served—more than any single university’s alumni count.

Among college-educated billionaires, few have careers aligned with their academic disciplines except for computer science graduates—all twelve pursued professions in technology sectors. Only half of engineering degree holders worked in engineering fields, while less than a quarter of those who studied finance or economics remained in those industries professionally. Careers in sales and military service are also common pathways among billionaire profiles.

Inequality

From 2010 to 2015, the combined fortune of the top 62 billionaires expanded by $500 billion, reaching a total of $1.76 trillion. In 2017, Oxfam highlighted that just eight billionaires possessed wealth equivalent to that of half the world's population. Nonetheless, this analysis encountered criticism due to its treatment of debt as negative net worth, which can inaccurately depict highly indebted individuals as having less wealth.

Statistics

The following section presents yearly statistics on billionaires, detailing their overall numbers and the aggregate net worth of the globe's wealthiest individuals. The primary data source since 2008 has been Forbes. Beginning in 2018, data from the Wealth-X census has also been incorporated, generally indicating a larger count of billionaires compared to Forbes. All monetary values are expressed in U.S. dollars.

Year	Total number of billionaires	Combined wealth of known billionaires	Number of billionaires					World's wealthiest individual
Year	Total number of billionaires	Combined wealth of known billionaires	U.S.	Chinese	Indian	German	Russian	Name	Net worth
2021	2,755		724	626	140	136	117	Elon Musk	$320 billion
2020	2,095	$10.2 trillion	614	389	102		99	Jeff Bezos	$188 billion
2019	2,153–2,604	$8.6–8.7 trillion	609–705	285–324	82–106		98–102	Jeff Bezos	$131 billion
2018	2,208–2,754	$9.1–9.2 trillion	585–680	338–372	117–119		96–111	Jeff Bezos	$133 billion
2017	2,043	$7.71 trillion	565	319	101		106	Jeff Bezos	$99.6 billion
2016	1,810	$6.48 trillion	540	251	90		75	Bill Gates	$75 billion
2015	1,826	$7.05 trillion	536	213	88		88	Bill Gates	$79.2 billion
2014	1,645	$6.4 trillion	492	152	56		111	Bill Gates	$78 billion
2013	1,426	$5.4 trillion	442	122	–		110	Carlos Slim	$73 billion
2012	1,226	$4.6 trillion	425	95	–		96	Carlos Slim	$73 billion
2011	1,210	$4.5 trillion	413	115	–		101	Carlos Slim	$74 billion
2010	1,011	$3.6 trillion	404	89	–		62	Carlos Slim	$53.5 billion
2009	793	$2.4 trillion	359	28	–		32	Bill Gates	$40 billion
2008	1,125	$4.4 trillion	470	–	–		87	Warren Buffett	$62 billion

Additional resources

Ritholtz, Barry (26 December 2016). "Visualizing Billionaires Worldwide by Nation and Source of Wealth". The Big Picture.