Number of billionaires worldwide increased by seven percent
Super-rich people around the world have recently been able to increase their huge fortunes again. In the twelve months to April 2023, the number of billionaires worldwide climbed by seven percent to 2544, according to a study published on Thursday by the major Swiss bank UBS. Their total assets grew by nine percent to twelve trillion dollars.
For the first time, Europe made the largest contribution to this growth. This was driven by the buying spree following the pandemic, which caused the share prices of France's luxury goods and cosmetics companies to rise. This benefited their owner families. Companies such as LVMH, Kering, Hermes and L'Oreal are based in the country, which now has a total of 34 billionaires. Germany has 109 and Switzerland 75 billionaires.
While it was mainly technology and healthcare entrepreneurs who amassed wealth in the past decade, owners of retail and consumer goods manufacturers have benefited in the last twelve months. In the meantime, however, there are already signs of a shift from which industrialists are likely to benefit. This is because governments in a number of countries are promoting the energy transition and higher defense spending.
UBS also pointed to another change in trend. For the first time since the survey began, billionaires had acquired more wealth through inheritance than through entrepreneurship. "We expect this theme to become more widespread over the next 20 years as more than 1,000 billionaires are estimated to bequeath 5.2 trillion dollars to their children," explained Benjamin Cavalli, who is responsible for the business with the super-rich at UBS.
Source: www.ntv.de
