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10 Top-Earning Billionaires So Far in 2024

May 18, 2024

3 min Read

Written by Adam Palasciano

Edited by Nicholas Morine

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This year has already set a record for the billionaire class, in terms of the number of billionaires and level of wealth. Billionaires have never been richer.

Forbes recently reported that not only are billionaires richer than ever before, but there are also more billionaires than ever. There are currently 2,781 in total, as of April 2. This figure represents an increase of 141 compared to 2023 and it’s 26 more than the previous record which was set in 2021.

So, just how rich are billionaires these days? They’re now worth $14.2 trillion in aggregate. This figure represents an increase of $2 trillion compared to 2023 and it’s $1.1 trillion more than the previous record, which was also set in 2021.

Here are a few additional billionaire statistics:

Two-thirds of billionaires are worth more than a year ago. In contrast, only one-fourth are poorer.
The majority of billionaire financial gains over the past year come from the top 20 billionaires, who added a combined $700 billion in wealth since 2023 as well as from the U.S., which is now home to a record 813 billionaires worth a combined $5.7 trillion.
China is home to the second largest population of billionaires as of 2024, with 473 (including Hong Kong) who are worth a collective $1.7 trillion.
India is home to the third largest population of billionaires as of 2024, coming in at 200 (which is also a record).

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