Connect with us

Money

The Geography of the World’s 50 Top Billionaires

Published

on

50 Top Billionaires by Geography

The Geography of the World’s 50 Top Billionaires

The business world has undergone considerable change in the last two decades.

While some fortunes are always reliably passed on to their respective heirs and heiresses, there are also entirely new industries that rise out of nowhere to shape the landscape of global wealth.

As the wealth landscape shifts, so does its geographical distribution.

The 2019 List of Billionaires

Today’s chart uses data from the most recent edition of the Forbes Billionaires List to map the distribution of the world’s richest people, and then compare that to data from 20 years prior.

We’ll start here by looking at the most recent data from 2019:

RankNameNet Worth ($B)CitizenshipIndustry
#1Jeff Bezos131🇺🇸 USATech, eCommerce
#2Bill Gates96.5🇺🇸 USATech
#3Warren Buffett82.5🇺🇸 USAInvestments
#4Bernard Arnault76🇫🇷 FranceLuxury Goods, Cosmetics
#5Carlos Slim Helu64🇲🇽 MexicoTelecommunications
#6Amancio Ortega62.7🇪🇸 SpainApparel
#7Larry Ellison62.5🇺🇸 USATech
#8Mark Zuckerberg62.3🇺🇸 USATech
#9Michael Bloomberg55.5🇺🇸 USAMedia
#10Larry Page50.8🇺🇸 USATech
#11Charles Koch50.5🇺🇸 USADiversified
#12David Koch50.5🇺🇸 USADiversified
#13Mukesh Ambani50🇮🇳 IndiaOil & Gas, Telecoms
#14Sergey Brin49.8🇺🇸 USATech
#15Francoise Bettencourt49.3🇫🇷 FranceCosmetics
#16Jim Walton44.6🇺🇸 USARetail
#17Alice Walton44.4🇺🇸 USARetail, Art
#18Rob Walton44.3🇺🇸 USARetail
#19Steve Ballmer41.2🇺🇸 USATech
#20Ma Huateng (Pony)38.8🇨🇳 ChinaTech
#21Jack Ma37.3🇨🇳 ChinaTech, eCommerce
#22Hui Ka Yan36.2🇨🇳 ChinaReal Estate
#23Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr.36.1🇩🇪 GermanyRetail
#24Sheldon Adelson35.1🇺🇸 USACasinos
#25Michael Dell34.3🇺🇸 USATech
#26Phil Knight33.4🇺🇸 USAApparel
#27David Thomson32.5🇨🇦 CanadaMedia
#28Li Ka-shing31.7🇨🇳 ChinaDeveloper
#29Lee Shau Kee30.1🇨🇳 ChinaDeveloper
#30François Pinault29.7🇫🇷 FranceLuxury Goods
#31Joseph Safra25.2🇧🇷 BrazilDiversified
#32Leonid Mikhelson24🇷🇺 RussiaOil & Gas
#33Jacqueline Mars23.4🇺🇸 USAFood
#34John Mars23.9🇺🇸 USAFood
#35Jorge Paulo Lemann22.8🇧🇷 BrazilDiversified
#36Azim Premji22.6🇮🇳 IndiaTech
#37Dieter Schwarz22.6🇩🇪 GermanyRetail
#38Wang Jianlin22.6🇨🇳 ChinaReal Estate
#39Giovanni Ferrero22.4🇮🇹 ItalyFood
#40Elon Musk22.4🇺🇸 USAAutomotive, Tech
#41Tadashi Yanai22.2🇯🇵 JapanApparel
#42Yang Huiyan22.1🇨🇳 ChinaReal Estate
#43Masayoshi Son21.6🇯🇵 JapanBanking, Investments
#44Jim Simons21.5🇺🇸 USAInvestments
#45Vladimir Lisin21.3🇷🇺 RussiaSteel, Transportation
#46Susanne Klatten21🇩🇪 GermanyAutomotive, Pharma
#47Vagit Alekperov20.7🇷🇺 RussiaOil & Gas
#48Alexey Mordashov20.5🇷🇺 RussiaSteel, Investments
#49Gennady Timchenko20.1🇷🇺 RussiaOil & Gas
#50Leonardo Del Vecchio19.8🇮🇹 ItalyEyewear

The most recent billionaires list features Jeff Bezos at the top with $131 billion, although it’s likely his recent divorce announcement will provide an upcoming shakeup to the Bezos Empire.

Bezos is just one of 21 Americans that find themselves in the top 50 list, which means that 42% of the world’s top billionaires hail from the United States.

Billionaire Geography Over Time

If we compare the top 50 list to that from 1999, it’s interesting to see what has changed over time in terms of geographical distribution.

Here’s the distribution of top countries on both lists, compared:

CitizenshipTop Billionaires (1999)Top Billionaires (2019)Change
🇷🇺 Russia05+5
🇨🇳 China37+4
🇺🇸 United States1821+3
🇧🇷 Brazil02+2
🇮🇳 India02+2
🇮🇹 Italy12+1
🇪🇸 Spain01+1
🇲🇽 Mexico110
🇨🇦 Canada110
🇧🇲 Bermuda10-1
🇯🇵 Japan32-1
🇫🇷 France53-2
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia20-2
🇹🇼 Taiwan20-2
🇸🇪 Sweden30-3
🇨🇭Switzerland30-3
🇩🇪 Germany73-4

In the last 20 years, Russia and China have stockpiled the most top billionaires, adding five and four to the top 50 list respectively. The United States added three, going from 18 to 21 billionaires over the timeframe.

On the other end of the spectrum, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland have lost the most billionaires from the top 50 ranking.

Click for Comments

Personal Finance

Chart: The Declining Value of the U.S. Federal Minimum Wage

This graphic compares the nominal vs. inflation-adjusted value of the U.S. minimum wage, from 1940 to 2023.

Published

on

The Declining Value of the U.S. Federal Minimum Wage

This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.

This graphic illustrates the history of the U.S. federal minimum wage using data compiled by Statista, in both nominal and real (inflation-adjusted) terms. The federal minimum wage was raised to $7.25 per hour in July 2009, where it has remained ever since.

Nominal vs. Real Value

The data we used to create this graphic can be found in the table below.

YearNominal value
($/hour)
Real value
($/hour)
19400.36.5
19450.46.82
19500.759.64
19550.758.52
1960110.28
19651.2512.08
19701.612.61
19752.112.04
19803.111.61
19853.359.51
19903.88.94
19954.258.49
20005.159.12
20055.158.03
20107.2510.09
20157.259.3
20187.258.78
20197.258.61
20207.258.58
20217.258.24
20227.257.61
20237.257.25

What our graphic shows is how inflation has eroded the real value of the U.S. minimum wage over time, despite nominal increases.

For instance, consider the year 1960, when the federal minimum wage was $1 per hour. After accounting for inflation, this would be worth around $10.28 today!

The two lines converge at 2023 because the nominal and real value are identical in present day terms.

Many States Have Their Own Minimum Wage

According to the National Conference of State Legislatures (NCSL), 30 states and Washington, D.C. have implemented a minimum wage that is higher than $7.25.

The following states have adopted the federal minimum: Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, Texas, Utah, Wisconsin, and Wyoming.

Meanwhile, the states of Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina, and Tennessee have no wage minimums, but have to follow the federal minimum.

How Does the U.S. Minimum Wage Rank Globally?

If you found this topic interesting, check out Mapped: Minimum Wage Around the World to see which countries have the highest minimum wage in monthly terms, as of January 2023.

Continue Reading

Subscribe

Popular