With 24 billionaires, the UAE is ranked 22nd among countries hosting global ultra-high net worth individuals, according to the 2024 Hurun Global Rich List released this week. In terms of cities, Dubai ranked 28th on the list with the highest number of billionaires – being home to 21 of them.

The Hurun Global Rich List 2024 ranked 3,279 billionaires, up from 3,112 last year, from 2,435 companies and 73 countries. The number of billionaires increased by 5 per cent and their total wealth was up 9 per cent. The cut-off for wealth calculations was January 15 this year.

According to the list, China held its position as the world’s capital for billionaires with 814, despite losing 155 billionaires, who shifted their residence to other countries.

The USA was close behind in the list with 800 billionaires after adding 109.

India added 84 billionaires and came third on the list with a total of 271 billionaires, now almost double the number of billionaires in the UK at fourth spot with 146 billionaires.

Germany is fifth with 140, followed by Switzerland (6th,106 billionaires); Russia (7th, 76 billionaires); Italy (8th, 69 billionaires); France (9th, 68 billionaires); and Brazil (10th, 64 billlionaires).

The 11th to 21st spots were occupied by Canada, Thailand, Indonesia, Australia, Japan, Singapore, South Korea, Israel, Spain, Sweden, and Turkey.

By city, New York is back again as the billionaire capital of the world, with London at second spot. Mumbai came third, followed by Beijing and Shanghai in fourth and fifth spots, respectively.

Mumbai was the fastest-growing billionaire capital in the world, adding 26 in the year and taking it to third in the world and Asia’s billionaire capital. New Delhi broke into the Top 10 for the first time. Palm Beach, Istanbul, Mexico City and Melbourne broke into the Hurun Top 30 cities.

Top 10 billionaires

The top 10 world’s richest added $426 billion, 56 per cent of total new wealth, and are worth $1.5 trillion, making up 10 per cent of the total list. Eight of them are from the US, and one is from France and India.

At 52, Elon Musk ($231 billion) is the richest person in the world for the third time in four years, propelled by a surge in Tesla's stock. Jeff Bezos, 60, rose to second with $185 billion, as his wealth grew 57 per cent this year, driven primarily by Amazon’s cloud computing market share.

Bernard Arnault, 74, dropped to third place with $175 billion; Mark Zuckerberg, 39, came fourth with $158 billion, followed by Larry Ellison, 79 ($144 billion) and Warren Buffett, 93 ($144 billion), tied at fifth place.

Completing the top 10 list are -

  • Steve Ballmer, 67 ($143 billion)
  • Bill Gates, 68, ($138 billion)
  • Larry Page, 50 ($123 billion)
  • Mukesh Ambani, 66, who dropped down one place to 10th, despite his wealth rising 40 per cent to $115 billion.

Mukesh Ambani and family kept the title of India's richest person. He made headlines earlier this month for the lavish pre-wedding of his youngest son.

Established in the UK in 1999, Hurun is a research, media and investments group, promoting entrepreneurship through its lists and research. According its website, it hosted high-profile events in the last couple of years across China and India, as well as London, Paris, New York, LA, Sydney, Luxembourg, Istanbul, Dubai and Singapore.

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