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, i.e. a thousand million) units of a given currency, usually major currencies such as the United States dollar, the euro or the pound sterling. Additionally, a centibillionaire (or centi-billionaire) is commonly used to reference a billionaire worth one hundred billion dollars (100,000,000,000). The American business magazine Forbes produces a complete global list of known U.S. dollar billionaires every year and updates an Internet version of this list in real time. The American oil magnate John D. Rockefeller became the world's first confirmed U.S. dollar billionaire in 1916.
As of 2018, there are over 2,700 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, with a combined wealth of over US$9.2 trillion, up from US$7.67 trillion in 2017. According to a 2017 Oxfam report, the top eight richest billionaires own as much combined wealth as "half the human race". Many current billionaires are extremely successful businesspeople, including Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, and Michael Dell. They created their wealth through the ownership and control of major corporations. Some billionaires have inherited their wealth through family owned corporations such as Mars, Walton, Rockefeller, and Koch.
Video Billionaire
Current U.S. dollar billionaires
According to the Forbes report released in March 2017, there are currently 2,043 U.S. dollar billionaires worldwide, from 66 countries, with a combined net worth of $7.67 trillion, which is more than the combined GDP of 152 countries. The majority of billionaires are male, as fewer than 11% (197 of 1,826) on the 2015 list were female billionaires. In 2015, there were ten LGBT billionaires. The United States has the largest number of billionaires of any country, with 536 as of 2015, while China, India and Russia are home to 213, 90 and 88 billionaires respectively. 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.
Maps Billionaire
Billionaires who own the same wealth as half the world
According to a 2016 Oxfam report, the wealth of the poorest 50% dropped by 41% between 2010 and 2015, despite an increase in the global population of 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. This number has fallen dramatically from 388 as recently as 2010. More recently, in 2017 an Oxfam report noted that just eight billionaires own as much combined wealth as "half the human race".
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.
See also
References
Further reading
- Ritholtz, Barry (26 December 2016). "Map of World Billionaires by Country and by Origin of Wealth". The Big Picture.
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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