Asset Surge Driven by Stock Market Boom and AI Industry Growth
United States Accounts for One-Third... Europe Overtakes Asia for the First Time
Last year, the number of billionaires worldwide reached a record high of 3,508.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on October 29 (local time), citing data from information analytics firm Altrata. Altrata classifies individuals with a net worth of at least 4.2 billion dollars (approximately 6 trillion won) as billionaires.
This figure represents an increase of more than 10% compared to the previous year. The surge in wealth among high-net-worth individuals is attributed to the strong stock market and the growth of the artificial intelligence (AI) industry. The total assets held by these billionaires amount to 13.4 trillion dollars (approximately 19,067 trillion won).
By country, the United States ranked first by a wide margin, accounting for more than one-third of the total with 1,135 billionaires. The wealth of American billionaires represented about 43% of global wealth. China ranked second with 321 billionaires, accounting for 10% of the total assets.
Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, a leading French luxury goods company and one of Europe's most prominent billionaires. Photo by LVMH
In Europe, the number of billionaires surpassed 1,000 for the first time since statistics have been kept, making it the region with the second-highest number of billionaires after North America, overtaking Asia.
Prominent European billionaires include Bernard Arnault, who leads the French luxury goods company LVMH, and Dieter Schwarz, founder of the German grocery chain Lidl. Arnault's net worth stands at 236.4 billion dollars (approximately 336 trillion won), while Schwarz's net worth is 45.9 billion dollars (approximately 65.2836 trillion won).
In China, Zhong Shanshan of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company, holds 79.9 billion dollars (approximately 113.5418 trillion won), and Pony Ma, CEO of Tencent, has a net worth of 71.5 billion dollars (approximately 101.6945 trillion won), ranking among the country's wealthiest individuals.
In addition, the wealth of American tech company founders such as Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, and Mark Zuckerberg saw particularly large increases. The soaring valuations of companies in AI, electric vehicles, and the space industry have further widened the wealth gap among top billionaires.
On the other hand, some individuals were pushed out of the rankings due to market volatility. King Charles III of the United Kingdom, whose assets are estimated to be around 1 trillion won, was not included in the list.
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