Billionaire

For other uses, see Billionaire (disambiguation).
"Trillionaire" redirects here. For the 2010 song by Bun B, see Trillionaire (song).

A billionaire, in countries that use the short scale number naming system, is a person with a net worth of at least one billion (1,000,000,000; a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually major currencies such as the United States dollar, the euro, or the pound sterling. Forbes magazine produces a complete global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year, and updates the Internet version in real time.[1] The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916;[2] as of 2015, there are over 1,800 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$7 trillion.[3]

Current U.S. dollar billionaires

According to the Forbes report released in March 2015, there are currently 1,826 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, from 66 countries, with a combined net worth of $7.05 trillion, which is more than the combined GDP of 152 countries.[3][4] The majority of billionaires are male, but there are 197 female billionaires as of 2015.[5] The US has the largest number of billionaires of any country, with 536 as of 2015,[5] with China and Russia home to 213 and 88 billionaires respectively.[3] Among American billionaires, the average age is 66 years;[6] there are 46 billionaires under the age of 40 globally as of 2015.[5]

Statistics

The table below lists numerous statistics relating to billionaires, including 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.

Year Total number of billionaires Combined wealth of known billionaires Number of U.S. billionaires Number of Chinese billionaires Number of Russian billionaires Number of Indian billionaires World's wealthiest individual Wealthiest individual's net worth
2015[3] 1,826 $7.05 trillion 536 213 88 90[7] Bill Gates $79 billion
2014[8] 1,645 $6.4 trillion 492 152 111 56[9] Bill Gates $78 billion
2013[10] 1,426 $5.4 trillion 442 122 110 – Carlos Slim $73 billion
2012[11] 1,226 $4.6 trillion 425 95 96 – Carlos Slim $73 billion
2011[12] 1,210 $4.5 trillion 413 115 101 – Carlos Slim $74 billion
2010[13] 1,011 $3.6 trillion 404 (est.) 89 62 – Carlos Slim $53.5 billion
2009[14] 793 $2.4 trillion 359 28 32 – Bill Gates $40 billion
2008[15] 1,125 $4.4 trillion 470 (est.) – 87 – Warren Buffett $62 billion

See also

References

  1. ↑ Miller, Matthew; Kroll, Luisa (10 March 2010). "Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved 7 June 2010.
  2. ↑ O'Donnell, Carl (11 July 2014). "The Rockefellers: The Legacy Of History's Richest Man". Forbes. Retrieved 7 January 2014.
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 "Inside The 2015 Forbes Billionaires List: Facts And Figures". Forbes. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  4. ↑ "How do Billionaires Spend Their Cash?". Binary Options. 2013. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 "Behind the Numbers in Forbes' Billionaires List". U.S. News & World Report. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 3 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Rappeport, Alan (9 March 2011). "Brics becoming billionaire factory". Financial Times. Retrieved 20 May 2011.
  7. ↑ "A Record 90 Indians On Forbes Billionaires List 2015".
  8. ↑ "Billionaires". Forbes. 3 March 2014. Retrieved 17 March 2014.
  9. ↑ "Indian Billionaires 2014:Big Winners, Big Losers".
  10. ↑ "Inside The 2013 Billionaires List". Forbes. 25 March 2013. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  11. ↑ "Forbes World's Billionaires 2012". Forbes. 7 March 2012. Retrieved 20 October 2014.
  12. ↑ "World's Billionaires 2011: A Record Year In Numbers, Money And Impact". Forbes. 9 March 2011. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  13. ↑ "Bill Gates No Longer World's Richest Man". Forbes. 10 March 2010. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  14. ↑ "The World's Billionaires". Forbes. 11 March 2009. Retrieved 1 April 2012.
  15. ↑ "World's Billionaires". Forbes. 5 March 2008. Retrieved 1 April 2012.