Just ten cities are home to nearly a quarter of the world’s billionaires. Here’s where they choose to live.
There are a record 2,781 billionaires spread around the globe this year, in places as far flung as the Isle of Man and Manantiales, a small fishing village and resort in Uruguay. Yet they mainly reside in just a handful of elite cities.
In fact, nearly a quarter of billionaires, worth a combined $3 trillion, live in one of ten cities in only six countries, according to Forbes’ latest World’s Billionaires list.
New York City once again is home to the most billionaires in the world: It’s the primary residence of an estimated 110 billionaires who are worth a collective $694 billion.
The Big Apple has long dominated the ranks, coming in at No. 1 for all but one of the past 11 years. (Beijing briefly took the top spot in 2021.)
Billionaire New Yorkers include some 62 Wall Streeters and other finance and investment tycoons, 14 real estate moguls and a dozen fashion and retail magnates.
Hong Kong and Moscow tie for second place, with 74 billionaires each.
That’s a net gain of two for Hong Kong, which is an autonomous territory of China, and an impressive net jump of 12 for Moscow, which climbs from No. 6 last year to No. 2, as Russian wealth rebounds after the fallout from the country’s invasion of Ukraine in early 2022 pushed scores of Muscovites from the billionaires list.
Mumbai also made a big jump, from seventh to fourth after adding 13 more billionaires since last year.
One city that lost its spot in the top 10 is Shenzhen. The Chinese city, which last year held the eight spot, suffered a net loss of 17 billionaires and now ranks No. 12.
Two other popular billionaire cities in the struggling nation, Beijing and Shanghai, both made the top 10 but slid down the list this year.
Both San Francisco and Los Angeles are up this year, in part because Forbes included cities and towns in their county, such as Santa Monica and Glendora. Forbes was not able to determine primary residences for 59 of the 2,781 billionaires on the 2024 ranking.
Here are the 10 cities with the most billionaires
DATA IS AS OF MARCH 8, 2024.
1. New York City
Total billionaires: 110 | Since last year: +9 | Total net worth: $694 billion | Richest resident: Michael Bloomberg ($106 billion)
With 110 billionaires—9 more than last year—New York City retains its status as the billionaire capital.
The city’s two richest residents make up a quarter of its billionaire wealth: media magnate and former mayor Michael Bloomberg (estimated net worth: $106 billion) and Koch Industries heir Julia Koch ($64.3 billion).
New York is also the home of eight new billionaires, including Jean Madar ($1.1 billion), cofounder of French fragrance company Interparfums, and Assaf Rappaport ($1 billion), cofounder of Israeli cloud security startup Wiz.
2. (tie) Moscow
Total billionaires: 74 | Since last year: +12 | Total net worth: $378 billion | Richest resident: Vagit Alekperov ($28.6 billion)
While Russia’s war in Ukraine is waging on, the ultra-wealthy in Moscow just got a combined $50 billion richer, catapulting the country’s capital from No. 6 to a tie for No. 2 on the list.
The city also gained 12 newcomers who cracked ten digits this year, some of whom after profiting (either directly or indirectly) from the ongoing war.
This includes Vladimir Melnikov ($1.7 billion), whose fast-fashion retailer Gloria Jeans saw sales go up 28% to $875 million in the past two years, thanks partly to foreign rivals H&M and Zara shuttering nearly 650 stores combined.
2. (tie) Hong Kong
Total billionaires: 74 | Since last year: +4 | Total net worth: $326 billion | Richest resident: Li Ka-shing ($37.3 billion)
Hong Kong came in second again this year, this time tying with Moscow, after a modest net increase to 74 billionaires.
Among its billionaire residents are eight newcomers, including Jean-Louis van der Velde ($3.9 billion), cofounder and CEO of crypto businesses Tether and Bitfinex, and Solina Chau ($3.1 billion), whose venture capital fund, Horizons Ventures, was among the earliest investors in tech companies like Facebook, Spotify, Zoom.
4. Mumbai
Total billionaires: 69 | Since last year: +13 | Total net worth: $379 billion | Richest resident: Mukesh Ambani ($116 billion)
Surging three spots to No. 4, Mumbai’s richest citizens not only gained a combined $100 billion, they also welcomed 11 freshly minted billionaires to their ranks.
The city is home to Asia’s richest person, Mukesh Ambani ($116 billion), as well as Shapoor Mistry ($9.9 billion), an Irish citizen who controls the Mumbai-based engineering and construction giant Shapoorji Pallonji Group.
5. Beijing
Total billionaires: 63 | Since last year: flat | Total net worth: $211 billion | Richest resident: Zhang Yiming ($43.4 billion)
China’s capital lost 32 billionaires since its brief stint at the top of the list in 2021, when 100 Forbes listers called the city home. Its 63 residents count is flat versus last year, though their combined net worth dropped by 14% amid China’s economic struggles.
Despite all this, two newcomers emerged in Beijing this year: Dai Wenyuan ($1.6 billion), founder and CEO of AI software company 4Paradigm, and Zheng Fan ($1.5 billion), independent director at Li Auto, an electric vehicle manufacturer headquartered in Beijing.
6. London
Total billionaires: 62 | Since last year: -1 | Total net worth: $326 billion | Richest resident: Len Blavatnik ($32.1 billion)
Climbing down the latter by one spot each year, London has dropped from No. 4 on the list in 2022 to its current position at No. 6.
The Big Smoke did not add any newcomers this year and lost one of its most iconic residents, Mohamed Al Fayed, best known for being the one-time owner of London department store Harrod’s and the father of Dodi Fayed, who died in a car crash alongside Princess Diana in 1997.
The elder Al Fayed passed away in August, at age 94.
7. Shanghai
Total billionaires: 54 | Since last year: -11 | Total net worth: $167 billion | Richest resident: Colin Huang ($38.9 billion)
Shanghai lost the most billionaires among the top ten this year, dropping from 65 to 54. Over half of those who remain on the list are worth less than in 2023, mirroring declines in other Chinese cities such as Beijing.
Still, Shanghai welcomed eight new members to the ten-figure-club, most of whom made their fortune in the tech industry, and watched the city’s richest resident, Colin Huang ($38.9 billion), the founder of e-commerce giant PPD Holdings, get $8.7 billion richer.
8. Los Angeles
Total billionaires: 53 | Since last year: +19 | Total net worth: $222 billion | Richest resident: John Tu ($13.6 billion)
The boom in celebrity billionaires is boosting LA, which jumps into the top 10 amid Forbes’ new methodology for including surrounding areas.
Billionaire Angelenos include NBA great LeBron James ($1.2 billion), reality star and shapewear mogul Kim Kardashian ($1.7 billion) and singer Rihanna ($1.4 billion).
9. Singapore
Total billionaires: 52 | Since last year: +6 | Total net worth: $156 billion | Richest resident: Eduardo Saverin ($28 billion)
Singapore continues its ascent as one of the most popular cities for the ultra-wealthy.
Since the city-state made it on the list at No. 9 last year, it gained a net of 6 billionaires, bumping it to No. 8. Singapore is home to Eduardo Saverin ($28 billion), who is a co-founder of Facebook, and two trios of brothers: Bachtiar Karim ($1.4 billion), Burhan Karim ($1.2 billion) and Bahari Karim ($1.2 billion), who together run palm oil firm Musim Mas, and Wee Ee Cheong ($1.6 billion), Wee Ee Chao ($1.3 billion) and Wee Ee Lim ($1.3 billion), grandsons of the cofounder of the 500-branch United Overseas Bank.
10. San Francisco
Total billionaires: 50 | Since last year: +13 | Total net worth: $185 billion | Richest resident: Dustin Moskovitz ($18.3 billion)
Scores of billionaires have sprung up from Silicon Valley’s roots, including San Francisco’s richest resident, Facebook and Asana cofounder Dustin Moskovitz ($18.3 billion), Stanford computer science professor David Cheriton ($12.6 billion) and six newcomers, including Ivan Zhao ($1.5 billion), cofounder and CEO of the productivity and work-apps software Notion, and OpenAI chief and tech investor Sam Altman ($1 billion).
This article was first published on forbes.com and all figures are in USD.
