Over the past decade, the total wealth of billionaires has grown by 121% to $ 14 trillion, Swiss bank UBS said.
The fastest growth has been among tech billionaires, AFP reported.
Switzerland's largest bank, which is among the world's biggest wealth managers, said the number of dollar billionaires has increased from 1,757 to 2,682 over the past 10 years, peaking at 2,686 in 2021.
The tenth edition of UBS's annual "Billionaire Ambitions" report, which tracks the wealth of the world's richest people, found that billionaires have comfortably outperformed global capital markets over the past decade.
The report documents "the growth and investment of great wealth, and how it is preserved for future generations and used to make 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 121% from $6.3 trillion to $14.0 trillion - while the MSCI AC World Global Equity Index grew 73%.
The wealth of tech billionaires grew the fastest, followed by that of billionaire industrialists. Globally, the wealth of tech billionaires has tripled from $788.9 billion in 2015 to $2.4 trillion in 2024.
"In earlier years, the new billionaires commercialised e-commerce, social media and digital payments; more recently, they designed the generative boom of artificial intelligence while advancing cybersecurity, fintech, 3D printing and robotics," UBS said.
The report found that since 2020, the global growth trend has slowed due to consolidation among Chinese billionaires. From 2015 to 2020, the wealth of billionaires globally grew by 10% a year, but since 2020, growth has fallen to 1%.
The wealth of Chinese billionaires more than doubled from 2015 to 2020, rising from $887.3 billion to $2.1 trillion, but has since fallen to $1.8 trillion.
However, the wealth of North American billionaires has grown 58.5% to $6.1 trillion since 2020, "led by billionaires from the industrial and technology sectors."
At the same time, billionaires are relocating more frequently, with 176 of them having changed their country since 2020. Popular destinations include Switzerland, the United Arab Emirates, Singapore and the United States.
The heirs and philanthropic causes of baby boomer billionaires will inherit an estimated $6.3 trillion over the next 15 years, UBS estimates. | BGNES
