Number of World’s ‘Super Wealthy’ Hits 226,000

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
By Douglas A. McIntyre Updated Published
This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.
Number of World’s ‘Super Wealthy’ Hits 226,000

© Thinkstock

The number of the world’s “super wealthy,” or people with over $30 million or more in net worth, reached 226,450 in 2016. This was an increase of 3.5%. The total net worth of these individuals reached $27 trillion, close to double America’s gross domestic product.

According to WealthX, the number will continue to rise rapidly:

Despite heightened geopolitical instability, the global ultra wealthy population is forecast to rise to 299,000 people by 2021, representing an increase of 72,550.

WealthX calls these people the ultra-high net worth (UHNW) population:

New York City was home to more of these people than any other city: THE NEW YORK METROPOLITAN AREA BOLSTERED ITS POSITION AS THE WORLD’S LARGEST UHNW CITY. Two other global financial hubs, Hong Kong and Tokyo, maintained their top-three city status. London remains the largest UHNW city in Europe, but its lead over Paris narrowed sharply. Though China has the world’s third-largest ultra wealthy population, Shanghai came in joint 29th, emphasising the point that robust wealth creation is occurring not just within its top-tier cities.

[nativounit]

About 88% of the people covered by the research were male. Two-thirds of the people in the group were “self made.”

And, of course, the university that dominated the educational background was Harvard:

While obtaining an academic degree is certainly no prerequisite for future financial success, the choice of educational establishment can be an important determining factor. Standing out from the crowd is Harvard University, the leading academic institution for today’s ultra wealthy graduates and one that regularly provides the largest number of billionaires. Its attraction is global, with Harvard accounting not only for the highest share of ultra wealthy individuals in the Americas but also in Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA) and Asia-Pacific (based on an individual’s primary business address).

[wallst_email_signup]

Photo of Douglas A. McIntyre
About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.

Featured Reads

Our top personal finance-related articles today. Your wallet will thank you later.

Continue Reading

Top Gaining Stocks

CBOE Vol: 1,568,143
PSKY Vol: 12,285,993
STX Vol: 7,378,346
ORCL Vol: 26,317,675
DDOG Vol: 6,247,779

Top Losing Stocks

LKQ
LKQ Vol: 4,367,433
CLX Vol: 13,260,523
SYK Vol: 4,519,455
MHK Vol: 1,859,865
AMGN Vol: 3,818,618