Mumbai Beats Beijing, Emerges as Asia’s Billionaire Capital; Mukesh Ambani Ranks 10th Richest Globally

India has ranked third in the list of the world’s richest people, with 271 billionaires, as per a new global list, which said that Mumbai has emerged as Asia’s billionaire capital, with Reliance Industries chairman Mukesh Ambani occupying a key spot in the list.

It found that there are 3,279 billionaires in the world today, with 167 of them added in the previous year, as per the Hurun Global Rich List 2024. China has the most number of billionaires (814), followed by the United States (800) and India. However, while the US and India added 109 and 84 billionaires respectively compared to the previous year, China’s number has decreased by 155.

“India has had a super strong year, adding almost 100 billionaires. Confidence in the economy grew to record levels. Mumbai overtook Beijing to become Asia’s billionaire capital (for the first time in the history of Hurun list) and Top 3 cities globally,” the report said.

India’s national capital, New Delhi, also broke into the top 10 cities for billionaires for the first time.

Elon Musk is once again the wealthiest man in the world, propelled by a surge in Tesla’s stock. Mark Zuckerberg and Larry Page have debuted in the top 10 this year at the expense of the late Bertrand Puech of Hermes and Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of L’Oreal, said the report.

Notably, musician Taylor Swift joined the billionaire club with US$1.2 billion “not from typical celebrity side hustles but uniquely through her music,” the report said. “Over half her fortune stems from royalties and touring, including US$190 million from the Eras tour’s first leg and US$35 million from its concert film. The rest is buoyed by her music catalogue’s value, notably after her first six albums were sold to Shamrock Capital for US$300 million in 2020,” it added.

“The concentration of wealth is reaching unprecedented heights. The cut-off to make the Hurun Top 10 has more than tripled this past decade to over US$100 billion today. The Hurun Top 10 generated a staggering 60% of all the new wealth generated this year. There are now 13 individuals with more than US$100bn, with only the first member of this ‘10-zeroclub’ coming in 2018. At this rate, expect to see the world’s first trillionaires by 2030,” it added.

The Hurun Global Rich List 2024 is an annual report that ranks the US dollar billionaires in the world. This year’s wealth calculations are a snapshot of January 15, 2024, it said. The report is compiled by the Hurun Research Institute.

Top 10 nations in terms of number of billionaires

China
United States
India
United Kingdom
Germany
Switzerland
Russia
Italy
France
Brazil

Top 10 billionaires in the world

Elon Musk – Tesla – US
Jeff Bezos – Amazon – US
Bernard Arnault – LVMH – France
Mark Zuckerberg – Meta – US
Larry Ellison – Oracle – US
Warren Buffet – Berkshire Hathaway – US
Steve Ballmer – Microsoft – US
Bill Gates – Microsoft – US
Larry Page – Alphabet – US
Mukesh Ambani – Reliance Industries – India

Top 10 cities in terms of number of billionaires

New York (US)
London (UK)
Mumbai (India)
Beijing (China)
Shanghai (China)
Shenzhen (China)
Hong Kong (China)
Moscow (Russia)
New Delhi (India)
San Francisco (US)