The world’s ultra-wealthy got even richer last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recessions
- Chinese capital city becomes new global billionaire hub
- Beijing gained 33 new billionaires in 2020, bringing its total to 100
- Five Chinese cities ranked among the top 10 globally with the most billionaires
According to Forbes annual World’s Billionaires List for 2021, for the first time ever Beijing has become the new global billionaire hub.
China’s capital city gained 33 new billionaires in 2020, bringing its total to 100. In doin so, Beijing narrowly beat New York City that Big Apple added only seven new billionaires in the same time span and had a total of 99 billionaire residents in 2020.
“China bounced back quickly from its pandemic woes, skyrocketing from No. 4 to No. 1 on our annual list,” Forbes said.
Overall, five Chinese cities ranked among the top 10 globally with the most billionaires. Hong Kong was in third place with 80 billionaires, Shenzhen in fifth with 68, and Shanghai in sixth place with 64. Hangzhou added 21 billionaires, enough to overtake Singapore for the No. 10 spot.
The UK capital, London, also counted seven more billionaire residents, even though it dropped from the fifth spot to the seventh as “the most popular home for ten-figure fortunes.” Rounding out the top 10, Moscow slipped from third place to fourth, while Mumbai and San Francisco – each home to 48 billionaires – tied at No. 8.
According to the report, Beijing’s wealthiest newcomer is 34-year-old Wang Ning, whose booming toy business Pop Mart went public in Hong Kong in December 2020. “Zhang Yiming, Beijing’s richest denizen and founder of social media sensation TikTok, doubled his net worth to $35.6 billion.”
The world’s ultra-wealthy got even richer last year despite the COVID-19 pandemic and economic recessions, said Forbes. Globally, 660 people became new billionaires, bringing the world total to 2,755 billionaires worth a collective $13.1 trillion.
