'The City with the Most Billionaires in Asia': Beijing Ranks 2nd, Who is 1st?

China Hurun Report Billionaire Report Released
Mumbai Surpasses Beijing with 92 Billionaires, Asia's No.1

Mumbai, India, has surpassed Beijing, China, to become the city with the most billionaires in Asia for the first time since records began. Seoul ranked 19th globally and 13th in Asia.

The central financial district of Mumbai
Photo by Yonhap News Agency

On the 27th (local time), American financial media CNBC reported this citing the "2024 Hurun Global Rich List" report released by China's Hurun Research Institute, based on individual stock holdings as of January 15 this year. Mumbai has 92 billionaires with assets exceeding 1 billion USD (approximately 1.35 trillion KRW) for the first time ranking first in Asia. Beijing ranked second with 91 billionaires, losing its top spot to Mumbai.

Among cities worldwide, New York ranked first with 119 billionaires, followed by London with 97. Mumbai and Beijing ranked third and fourth globally, respectively.

The total number of billionaires worldwide reached 3,279, an increase of 5% (167 people) compared to last year. By country, China remained first with 814 billionaires, the same as the previous year. However, this figure represents a decrease of 155 compared to last year's statistics. Hurun Research Institute analyzed, "China had a difficult year. In recent years, billionaires in the real estate and renewable energy sectors in China have lost wealth, causing significant changes in wealth." The United States (800) and India (271) followed.

The United States saw the highest increase in billionaires worldwide, with 109 new entrants last year. The AI boom played a major role in this. Nvidia CEO Jensen Huang entered the top 30 due to a surge in stock price, and major shareholders of Microsoft, Google, Amazon, Oracle, and Meta also saw significant asset growth. India ranked second with an increase of 84 billionaires, making it the country with the second-largest growth in billionaires.

In South Korea, the number of billionaires was 37, ranking 17th globally and 7th in Asia. Based on cities, Seoul had 31 billionaires, two fewer than the previous year. Globally, Seoul tied for 19th place with Los Angeles, California, USA, and ranked 13th in Asia.