Billionaire

A billionaire is an individual with a net worth of at least one billion units of a major currency, such as the U.S. dollar, euro, or pound sterling. As of April 2024, there are 2,781 billionaires globally, collectively holding over $14.2 trillion in wealth, up from $12.2 trillion in 2023. The world's top 1% of earners own more combined wealth than 95% of humanity and hold 43% of all global financial assets. Seventeen individuals have achieved centibillionaire status, with net worths exceeding $100 billion as of October 2024. The United States has the largest number of billionaires, with 536 in 2015, followed by China, India, and Russia. Men dominate the billionaire population, with fewer than 11% being female as of 2015. The average age of American billionaires was 66 in 2010, though only 46 were under 40 in 2015. Billionaires come from diverse backgrounds, with nearly 30% lacking a college degree. The most common fields of study among college-educated billionaires are finance and economics, but few pursue careers directly related to their degrees. Billionaire-controlled companies often outperform market indices, attributed to long-term planning and smart risk-taking. Wealth inequality is significant, with the poorest 95% experiencing a 38% drop in wealth between 2010 and 2015, while the richest 62 people saw their wealth rise by $500 billion. Oxfam reports have highlighted such disparities, though their methodologies have been criticized for treating debt as negative wealth. The number of female billionaires grew by 46% from 2014 to 2019, compared to a 39% ...