It seems like the past year has been good to the mega-wealthy! Business magazine Forbes recently dropped the 2024 edition of their annual “World’s Billionaires” list, naming 2,781 individuals as part of the billionaires club. This year’s list set a new record for the highest number of names, beating the previous record from 2021.
The billionaires are also wealthier than ever because their combined wealth from 2023 hit a whopping US$14.2 trillion. The amount is roughly US$2 trillion more than the previous year and US$1 trillion more than the previous record, also set in 2021. The country with the most billionaires is the United States, which has 813 people. Meanwhile, China and India take second and third place with 473 and 200 billionaires, respectively.
For 2024, 17 Malaysians have made the list, with the wealthiest man in Malaysia, Robert Kuok, being the only one in the Top 200 at number 176, with an estimated wealth of US$11.4 billion. Lim Chai Hock, founder of Bayan Resources, and Cheah Cheng Hye, co-chairman of Hong Kong-listed Value Partners Group, made the Forbes list for the first time, placing at 2152 and 2692 respectively.
Speaking of first-timers, American singer Taylor Swift also made the Forbes Billionaires list for 2024. Taylor’s record-breaking world tour, The Eras Tour, was her biggest moneymaker, surpassing US$1 billion in revenue. The 34-year-old pop star, who ranks 2545 on the list, has amassed an estimated US$1.1 billion fortune from the tour, her music catalogue and real estate portfolio. Basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson and French fashion designer Christian Louboutin also joined the list this year, both with an estimated fortune of US$1.2 billion each and sharing the rank of 2410.
The top 3 names on the Forbes list are Bernard Arnault, the man behind the luxury goods conglomerate LVMH, Elon Musk, founder of Tesla and SpaceX and Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. Were you surprised by any of these names on the list?
Source: Forbes
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