Taylor’s swift to join record number of billionaires
THERE are now more billionaires across the world than ever before, it was revealed yesterday.
According to Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthiest people, the elite group grew by 141 last year to make the tally 2,781, 26 more than the record set in 2021. They are also richer than ever, with a combined wealth estimated at £11. trillion – £1.6 trillion more than last year and £875 million more than the previous record.
There were 265 newcomers including pop megastar Taylor Swift, with her fortune estimated at $1.1 billion (£875 million) and fashion designer Christian Louboutin, worth an estimated $1.2 billion (£955 million). Another new member, with a fortune of $1.5billion (£1.2billion) is Briton Ben Francis, who built the Gymshark sportswear empire.
A record 14 people are ‘centibillion-aires’ in the 2024 list after amassing 12-figure fortunes of over $100 billion (£79.5 billion) to total £1.6 trillion.
Despite financial uncertainty for many, two-thirds of billionaires became even richer. This was largely driven by the 20 wealthiest, who are a combined £557 billion better off.
French businessman Bernard Arnault, who oversees a fashion and cosmetics empire including Louis Vuitton and Tiffany, kept his world’s richest man crown with a £185 billion fortune.
He added £17.5 billion to his personal wealth, putting him £ 0 billion above Tesla owner Elon Musk. Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was third with £154 billion while Facebook’s Mark Zuckerberg was fourth on £141billion.
Three Britons made the top 200: hedge fund manager Michael Platt with an estimated £14. billion, chemical boss Sir James Ratcliffe on £1 .1 billion and inventor James Dyson with £10.8 billion. There were 69 women on the list, 1 per cent of the total.