billionaire

{{See also|The World's Billionaires}}

File:Global Wealth Distribution 2020 (Property).svg by wealth group, Credit Suisse, 2021]]

File:Global-share-of-wealth-by-wealth-group-768x409.png by wealth group, Credit Suisse, 2017]]

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.{{Cite web|url=https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20191108-ubs-pwc-billionaires-report-2019.html|title=UBS/PwC Billionaires Report 2019|website=UBS.com|language=en|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=7 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191207161630/https://www.ubs.com/global/en/media/display-page-ndp/en-20191108-ubs-pwc-billionaires-report-2019.html|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|url=https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealth-management/uhnw/billionaires-report.html|title=Billionaires insights 2018|website=Billionaires insights|language=en|access-date=2019-12-20|archive-date=20 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191220235153/https://www.ubs.com/global/en/wealth-management/uhnw/billionaires-report.html|url-status=live}} 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 {{As of|2015|lc=y}},{{cite web |url=https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/02/behind-the-numbers-in-forbes-billionaires-list |title=Behind the Numbers in Forbes' Billionaires List |work=U.S. News & World Report |date=2 March 2015 |access-date=12 March 2018 |archive-date=26 July 2018 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180726235455/https://www.usnews.com/news/blogs/data-mine/2015/03/02/behind-the-numbers-in-forbes-billionaires-list |url-status=live }} while China, India and Russia are home to 213, 90 and 88 billionaires, respectively.{{cite web|url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2015/03/03/a-record-90-indians-on-forbes-billionaires-list-2015/|title=A Record 90 Indians On Forbes Billionaires List 2015|date=3 March 2015|work=Forbes|access-date=9 August 2015|archive-date=2 August 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150802075653/http://www.forbes.com/sites/naazneenkarmali/2015/03/03/a-record-90-indians-on-forbes-billionaires-list-2015/|url-status=live}} {{As of|2015}}, only 46 billionaires were under the age of 40, while the list of American-only billionaires, as of 2010, had an average age of 66.{{cite news|last=Rappeport|first=Alan|title=Brics becoming billionaire factory|url=http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/bc9b6d80-4a8d-11e0-82ab-00144feab49a.html#axzz1MvizGKiW|access-date=20 May 2011|newspaper=Financial Times|date=9 March 2011|archive-date=9 June 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200609103013/https://www.ft.com/content/bc9b6d80-4a8d-11e0-82ab-00144feab49a#axzz1MvizGKiW|url-status=live}}

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..{{Cite web|title=Real Time Billionaires|url=https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/|access-date=2020-09-08|website=Forbes|language=en|archive-date=25 April 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120425042103/https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/|url-status=live}} 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.{{Cite news |url=https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2019/10/02/2019-forbes-400-newcomers/ |title=Newcomers: These 19 Billionaires Join the Forbes 400 List in 2019 |work=Forbes |date=3 October 2019 |access-date=2019-09-15 |archive-date=24 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210124152835/https://www.forbes.com/sites/denizcam/2019/10/02/2019-forbes-400-newcomers/ |url-status=live }} 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.

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.{{Cite web|last=Shen|first=Lucinda|date=8 August 2016|url=https://fortune.com/2016/08/08/billionaires-no-degree/|title=You'd be Surprised How Many Billionaires Don't Have a College Degree|website=fortune.com|access-date=12 May 2021|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210516003645/https://fortune.com/2016/08/08/billionaires-no-degree/|url-status=live}}{{Cite web|last=Forrest|first=Conner|url=https://www.techrepublic.com/article/these-10-college-majors-have-created-more-billionaires-than-any-other-fields-of-study/|title=These 10 college majors have created more billionaires than any other fields of study|work=TechRepublic|date=23 October 2018|access-date=12 May 2021|archive-date=16 May 2021|archive-url=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/|url-status=live}}

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.

{{See also|Ultra high-net-worth individual}}

File:Billionaires who own the same wealth as half the world.png|access-date=30 June 2016|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20181029083422/https://www.oxfam.org.uk/media-centre/press-releases/2016/01/62-people-own-same-as-half-world-says-oxfam-inequality-report-davos-world-economic-forum|archive-date=29 October 2018|url-status=dead}}]]

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 by 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".{{cite press release |title=Just 8 men own same wealth as half the world |date=16 January 2017 |publisher=Oxfam |url=https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world |last=Ratcliff |first=Anna |access-date=16 January 2017 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116191825/https://www.oxfam.org/en/pressroom/pressreleases/2017-01-16/just-8-men-own-same-wealth-half-world |archive-date=16 January 2017}}{{cite news |last=Mullany |first=Gerry |date=16 January 2017 |title=World's 8 Richest Have as Much Wealth as Bottom Half of Global Population |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/world/eight-richest-wealth-oxfam.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170116211255/https://www.nytimes.com/2017/01/16/world/eight-richest-wealth-oxfam.html |archive-date=16 January 2017 |access-date=17 January 2017 |work=The New York Times}} 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.{{cite web|title=Are 26 billionaires worth more than half the planet? The debate, explained.|url=https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth|date=22 January 2019|work=vox.com|access-date=8 November 2019|archive-date=8 November 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191108093033/https://www.vox.com/future-perfect/2019/1/22/18192774/oxfam-inequality-report-2019-davos-wealth|url-status=live}}

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.

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• Billionaire space race
• Bloomberg Billionaires Index (global)
• Forbes 400 (US citizens only)
• Foundation
• List of cities by number of billionaires
• List of countries by the number of billionaires
• List of universities by number of billionaire alumni
• List of wealthiest families
• Millionaire
• The World's Billionaires
• Business oligarch

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{{Reflist}}

• Ritholtz, Barry (26 December 2016). "[http://ritholtz.com/2016/12/map-world-billionaires-country-origin/ Map of World Billionaires by Country and by Origin of Wealth]". The Big Picture.

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{{Wealth|state=expanded}}

{{Lists of billionaires}}

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Category:Distribution of wealth

Category:Forbes lists