FIVE THINGS TO KNOW ABOUT BILLIONAIRES

There are about 2,100 billionaires in the world — more than ever before. Their ranks have surged 40 per cent in five years. But spare a thought for them — last year was a little rough, causing their fortunes to fall by 4.3 per cent to a mere $ 11.2 trillion, according to a UBS and Price waterhouse-Coopers( PWC) report released on Friday.

1

Canada

There were 45 billionaires in the country in 2018, down from 49 in 2017, according to the report. Of those in the exclusive club, 76 per cent of them created their own wealth, as opposed to inheriting it. Their combined wealth comes to about $ 203 billion.

2

Tech

This group bucked the downward trend, growing their wealth by 3.4 per cent to $ 1.7 trillion in 2018. During the past five years they’ve nearly doubled their ranks from 76 to 148.

3

Women

The number of female billionaires increased by 46 per cent, rising from 160 to 233, in the five-year period through to 2018. Their collective wealth has skyrocketed to $1.2 trillion.

4

Asia

This continent (also the world’s largest and most populous) has seen the greatest advances in wealth and is now home to more than a third of the world’s billionaires. Their combined fortunes total $ 3.3 trillion.

5

China

The country’s ultra-wealthy have been hammered by cooling economic growth and the weakening yuan. The number of billionaires fell by 48 to 325 and their net worth declined by 12.3 per cent in 2018. However, over the five-year period, last year isn’t massively significant. Their net wealth has grown 203 per cent and reached $1.3 trillion.