In this article, we will be taking a look at the 30 cities with the most billionaires in the world. To skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to see the 5 cities with the most billionaires in the world.
Are billionaires good for the economy is the multibillion-dollar question. Trying to fathom the wealth that billionaires possess is an unrealistic task for the everyday man. After all, there are 24 people with a net worth higher than $50 billion, while there are over 100 countries whose GDP is lower than this. According to the Visual Capitalist, there are currently over 3,300 billionaires which have a total net worth of over $12 trillion, with the U.S. alone hosting 735 billionaires with a combined worth of $4.7 trillion. Logic would indicate that billionaires should be good for the economy, since the vast majority of their net worth comes from stocks, generally in companies they founded. Elon Musk, the second richest person in the world, derives his net worth primarily from Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), the most valuable car company in the world. As Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) has seen its market cap plummet in 2022, so has Musk's net worth, which gave him the dubious record of the largest decrease in net worth of any person in history. Other famous billionaires such as Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates's net worth is tied to Amazon.com, Inc. (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT) respectively.
30 cities with the most billionaires in the world
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However, an increase or decrease in the net worth of a billionaire often doesn't coincide with economic growth or improving returns for the general population. This was demonstrated during the Covid-19 pandemic where a billionaire was created every 40 hours, as per an Oxfam report, while 1 million people were in danger of falling into poverty at almost the same date. In 24 months since the Covid-19 pandemic, billionaires gained more wealth than in the previous 23 years combined, even as tens of millions of people fell into poverty. Wages have often fallen for the average worker and the ten richest people in the world own more than bottom 40% of the global population, equal to well over 3 billion people. 40 new pharma billionaires were created thanks to Moderna, Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE)'s virtual monopoly on the Covid-19 vaccines.
According to the Columbia Center for Development Economics and Policy, billionaires who reach that level because of being innovators and inventors, rather than through political connections, are actually good for the economy. However, according to Oxfam, billionaires don't create billions in wealth, they take it from other people. An increase in the number of billionaires pushes other people into poverty rather than stimulating economic growth. Since 2020, two-thirds of total new wealth has gone to the 1% alone, and global inequality rose for the first time in decades in 2022, because of which the World Bank has stated that the world is unlikely to meet the U.N.'s goal of ending poverty by 2030. Part of this is because of super-low taxes for the ultra rich, averaging at 3%, while people with way less money paid a much larger percentage of their earnings in taxes. Overall, it does seem like billionaires are actually detrimental to the economy, apart for those people who invest early in companies that billionaires create, to earn a handsome return as evidenced by Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA), whose massive increase in market cap in 2020 and 2021 result in many moderate investors becoming millionaires.
To determine the cities with the most billionaires in the world, we first checked the 30 cities with the highest number of billionaires from the 2022 Hurun Report. We then checked the GDP of each city, either through Venture Capitalist's GDP of cities in 2021 list. For some cities which weren't in the list, we checked their GDP through other official governmental statistics. Based on these two metrics, we calculated the average ranking of each city in our list. So, without further ado, let's take a look at the cities that the ultrarich call their home, starting with:
30. Palo Alto
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 27
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 623
Palo Alto kicks off our list, and is home to one of America's richest women in Laurene Powell Jobs, with her wealth being derived from her stakes in Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) and The Walt Disney Company (NYSE:DIS).
29. Istanbul
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 24
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 247,312
The richest person in Istanbul is Murat Ulker, with a net worth of almost $5 billion, derived from Yıldız Holding.
28. Ningbo
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 27
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 224,540
Ningbo is located in the Chinese province of Zhejiang, and while it isn't one of the largest ports in the world, it is still an important port city which has led to the creation of significant wealth within the country.
27. Bengaluru
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 29
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 103,819
Rajesh Mehta, the founder and owner of jewelry company Rajesh Exports, is the richest person in Bengaluru.
26. Foshan
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 30
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 186,117
The Chinese city of Foshan in Guangdong province has a diverse economy, with the biggest industry in the city being electronic goods manufacture.
25. Sydney
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 23
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 398,037
Australia's billionaires saw their net worth increase by 61% since the pandemic struck the world, with 11 more billionaires being added to the country in the same timeframe.
24. Suzhou
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 28
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 356,800
Qian Dongqi, the richest person in Suzhou, earned his fortune from Ecovacs Robotics, the biggest seller of vacuum cleaners in China.
23. Dallas
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 23
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 523,854
We have considered the Dallas-Forth Worth area, where the richest person is Alice Walton, with a net worth of $60 billion. She is part of the Walton family which owns the biggest and one of the most valuable retail companies in the world in Walmart Inc. (NYSE:WMT).
22. Jakarta
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 30
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 308,250
Jakarta is the capital of Indonesia and the second-largest urban area in the world after Tokyo. Wijono & Hermanto Tanoko are the richest people in Indonesia.
21. São Paulo
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 36
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 261,642
São Paulo has the most billionaires of any city in Latin America, and in the last 10 years, the number of billionaires have increased from 26 to 36 billionaires.
20. New Delhi
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 58
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 123,900
Delhi is the first Indian city in our list of the cities with the most billionaires in the world.
19. Bangkok
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 46
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 252,128
Even though Thailand has 14.5 million people on welfare, it also has over 30 people in Forbes real-time billionaires list. Bangkok is home to the majority of billionaires in the country.
18. Chicago
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 20
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 714,697
The biggest U.S. cities have significantly high GDPs, which boosts their rank in our list. Ken Griffin, founder of Citadel Securities, is the richest person in the city,
17. Singapore
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 44
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 374,394
Singapore is both a city and a country, which is why we've included it in our list. It is one of Asia's biggest financial centers, which is why it is home to several major multinational companies.
16. Hangzhou
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 68
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 248,721
Chinese cities dominate our list of cities with the most billionaires in the world, and Hangzhou is no exception.
15. Guangzhou
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 50
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 405,355
Hui Ka Yan is the richest person in Guangzhou, with a net worth of over $3 billion.
14. Mumbai
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 72
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 277,980
India is fast becoming one of the biggest economies in the world and is also dealing with high levels of inequality, which is why despite the high level of poverty in the country, it is also home to several billionaires, with Mukesh Ambani being India, and Mumbai's, richest person. Gautam Adani was the richest person in the country just a few weeks ago but the Hindenburg report has seen his fortune crash heavily.
13. Taipei
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 50
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 407,838
Taipei, the capital of Taiwan, is home to several billionaires, the richest of which is Zhang Congyuan, founder of Huali Industrial.
12. Los Angeles
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 28
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 1,133,627
Los Angeles is well-known for being home to Hollywood and tons of celebrities, and is easily among the list of cities with the most billionaires in the world.
11. Seoul
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 34
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 926,790
When South Korea became a powerhouse, many fortunes were created which is why Seoul has so many billionaires right now.
10. Hong Kong
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 85
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 368,633
Hong Kong is considered to be Asia's financial center, hence attracting some extremely rich individuals. It is also considered to be a gateway to China, though according to Henley & Partners, Hong Kong's millionaire population fell by 14% recently.
9. Tokyo
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 29
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 2,055,698
Tokyo has the largest GDP in the entire world, being the only city with a GDP of over $2 trillion. However, it is still much lower in terms of number of billionaires as wealth concentration isn't as high in Japan compared to most developed countries.
8. Moscow
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 62
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 504,808
While Moscow has several billionaires right now, the number is likely to drop after sanctions imposed by Western nations in wake of Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Millionaires have also been leaving in droves following the war to avoid these sanctions.
7. San Francisco
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 67
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 593,629
San Francisco is one of the most expensive cities in the world, mainly thanks to excessive housing and utility costs. Larry Ellison, founder of Oracle Corporation (NYSE:ORCL) and Mark Zuckerberg, founder of Meta Platforms, Inc. (NASDAQ:META) are the richest people in the city.
6. Paris
Total number of billionaires in 2022: 51
Total GDP in 2021 (in millions): 934,168
Paris is home to the richest person in the world in Bernard Arnault and family, with a net worth of $213.7 billion through his luxury goods company LVMH.
