Zurich, Switzerland:
Billionaires have seen their combined wealth rise 121 percent to $14 trillion over the past decade, Swiss bank UBS said on Thursday, with tech billionaires' coffers filling the fastest.
Switzerland's largest bank, which is among the world's largest asset managers, said the number of dollar billionaires rose from 1,757 to 2,682 over the past decade, peaking in 2021 at 2,686.
The tenth edition of UBS's annual Billionaire Ambitions report, which tracks the wealth of the world's richest people, shows that billionaires have comfortably outperformed global stock markets over the past decade.
The report documents “the growth and investment of great wealth, as well as how it is preserved for future generations and how it historically had a positive impact on society,” said Benjamin Cavalli, head of strategic clients at UBS Global Wealth Management.
Between 2015 and 2024, the total wealth of billionaires increased by 121 percent, from $6.3 trillion to $14.0 trillion – while the MSCI AC World Index of global stocks rose by 73 percent.
Technical wealth
The wealth of technology billionaires grew fastest, followed by that of industrialists.
Globally, the wealth of technology billionaires has tripled from $788.9 billion in 2015 to $2.4 trillion in 2024.
“In earlier years, the new billionaires commercialized e-commerce, social media and digital payments; most recently, they developed the generative AI boom, while also developing cybersecurity, fintech, 3D printing and robotics,” UBS said.
The report shows that the global growth trend has slowed since 2020 due to the decline among China's billionaires.
From 2015 to 2020, the wealth of billionaires worldwide grew at an annual rate of 10 percent, but since 2020 the growth has fallen to one percent.
The wealth of Chinese billionaires more than doubled between 2015 and 2020, from $887.3 billion to $2.1 trillion, but has since fallen to $1.8 trillion.
However, the wealth of North American billionaires has increased by 58.5 percent since 2020 to $6.1 trillion, “led by industrialists and technology billionaires.”
Meanwhile, billionaires are increasingly moving, with 176 having moved to their country since 2020, with Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United States being popular destinations.
268 new billionaires by 2024
In 2024, around 268 people became billionaires for the first time, 60 percent of whom were entrepreneurs.
“This year's new billionaires were mainly self-made,” UBS said.
According to the report, US billionaires made the biggest gains in 2024, cementing the country's position as the world's leading center for billionaire entrepreneurs.
Their wealth rose 27.6 percent to $5.8 trillion, or more than 40 percent of the global wealth of billionaires.
The wealth of billionaires in mainland China and Hong Kong fell 16.8 percent to $1.8 trillion, while the number of billionaires fell from 588 to 501.
The wealth of Indian billionaires rose 42.1 percent to $905.6 billion, as their number grew from 153 to 185.
The total wealth of Western Europe's billionaires rose 16.0 percent to $2.7 trillion – partly due to a 24 percent increase in the number of Swiss billionaires.
The total wealth of UAE billionaires rose 39.5 percent to $138.7 billion.
Next 10 years
UBS said billionaires face an “uncertain world” over the next decade, due to high geopolitical tensions, trade barriers and governments with increasing spending demands.
Billionaires will therefore have to rely on their previous differentiators: “smart risk-taking, business focus and determination”.
“Risk-taking billionaires will likely be at the forefront of creating two technology-related industries of the future that are already taking shape: generative AI and renewable energy/electrification,” UBS predicted.
And more flexible estate planning will be needed as billionaire families move countries and spread around the world.
The heirs and philanthropic causes of the baby boom billionaires will inherit an estimated $6.3 trillion over the next fifteen years, according to UBS.
(This story has not been edited by DailyExpertNews staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)