The 15 cities with the most billionaires
If you’re searching for a city full of billionaires, look no further than New York City.
The Big Apple is where you will find the most billionaires, according to Wealth-X’s 2019 Billionaire Census. In 2018, there were 105 living in the city.
And, the census states, New York City is “home to more billionaires than in almost every country in the world, with the exception of China and Germany.”
Undoubtedly the city’s status as a global financial capital attracted many of the billionaires who now call it home.
The Billionaire Census ranked the top 15 most billionaire-packed cities in the world, and, in addition to the U.S., it found them throughout Europe and Asia. São Paulo in Brazil was the only South American city to crack the top 15.
These 15 cities account for nearly 30% of the world’s billionaire population.
After New York, Hong Kong came in second with 87 billionaires. It saw a decrease year-over-year, shedding six of its billionaire population in 2018.
“The region’s close ties with China and its status as a leading global financial center served to hinder wealth creation (and wealth preservation), amid a tumultuous year for Asian equities and global trade flows,” according to Wealth-X.
San Francisco, a city that has become notorious for its extremely high cost of living, is home to 75 billionaires, placing it third in the world.
It’s also the most billionaire-dense city on the planet, with 11,612 inhabitants per billionaire. (In Istanbul, there are 462,629 inhabitants for every billionaire. In Mumbai, it’s 327,431 inhabitants.) Many of them earned their wealth from the tech sector, which is based in nearby Silicon Valley.
Meanwhile, Moscow, the city with the fourth-most billionaires, can credit its high ranking to “rising investment and higher oil prices (for a time) helping to underpin returns for the highly concentrated billionaire population,” Wealth-X wrote.
Unsurprisingly, London, Beijing, and Singapore were among the top cities as well.
However, the number of billionaires in Singapore declined by 11%, the biggest decrease among the top 15. Like Beijing, Singapore experienced a negative equity market performance, leading to the declines.
Adriana is an associate editor for Yahoo Finance. Follow her on Twitter @adrianambells.
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