More of the world’s billionaires live in China than anywhere else, after stock market gains and artificial intelligence (AI) generated a record number of billionaires globally, according to the latest Hurun Global Rich List. China overtook the United States to recapture the top spot with 1,110 billionaires out of 4,020 globally. China added 287 billionaires since the previous edition of the report, more than recouping its losses over the last three years. AI fostered two new Chinese billionaires, Yan Junjie of MiniMax with USD3.6 billion and Liu Debing of Knowledge Atlas Technology JSC, better known as Zhipu, with USD1.2 billion. “The concentration of economic power continues,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, Chairman and Chief Researcher of the Shanghai-based research, media and investments group.
Elon Musk, with a fortune of USD792 billion, Jeff Bezos of Amazon at USD300 billion, and Larry Page of Alphabet at USD281 billion, took the top three spots on the list. The global list grew by 578 billionaires over the last year, with China, including the mainland, Macao, Hong Kong and Taiwan, accounting for half of the new entrants. The U.S. was the second-ranked country, with 1,000 billionaires, up by 130. Ranked third, India was home to 308 billionaires, up 24. Germany climbed to fourth with 171, overtaking the UK. More than 70% of this year’s billionaires – some 2,900 people – were not on the list a decade ago, showing just how much wealth creation has changed, the report said. Globally, 114 billionaires come from AI companies, with 46 joining for the first time, making AI the single largest generator of new billionaires. “What makes money today is completely different from a decade ago,” Hoogewerf said. “Wealth was created faster last year than at any point in the Hurun Global Rich List’s history. We saw a record of over 700 new faces – that’s two a day for every day of last year.”
By city, New York remains the world’s billionaire capital with 146, up by 17. Shenzhen surged to second place, adding 47 to 132, followed by Shanghai, Beijing and London. Hong Kong has 88 billionaires, up 14 from last year, ranking seventh. Three-quarters of China’s billionaires today were not on the list 10 years ago. Industrial products dominated China’s new entrants with more than 80, while semiconductors produced 18 new billionaires, a direct result of the country’s push for chip self-sufficiency. Leading the sector were Chen Weiliang of MetaX Integrated Circuits with a USD4.7 billion fortune and Zhang Jianzhong of Moore Threads Technology with USD4.6 billion. Healthcare added 28 new entrants in China, topped by Au Yat-Gai of Regencell Bioscience, with USD13 billion in wealth. Energy saw 19 new entrants, driven by the electric vehicle battery sector, the South China Morning Post reports.
