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A Harrowing Look At The Numbers From The World’s Billionaires List
If wealth inequality makes you squeamish look away
Every year, Forbes releases a list of the world’s billionaires. The list tracks how many people have a net worth in the ten figures, who they are and how they make their money. And every year, it feels like that list grows larger and longer.
For the past two decades, the number of the world’s billionaires has continued to grow at a steady pace — about 100 new billionaires created per year. Since 2000, there have only been two years where the number of billionaires in the world decreased: 2009 and 2022.
Billionaires Year Over Year
In 2000, there were only 470 billionaires on planet Earth. They accounted for $898 billion in personal wealth. Fast forward to 2022 and there are now 2,668 billionaires that have accrued $12.7 trillion in personal assets. The raw numbers themselves are staggering but the rate of growth is also eye-popping.
In 22 years, the number of billionaires has grown by 467%. During that same time period, the percentage of people living in poverty in the United States remained static at 11.4%.
The number of billionaires only decreased worldwide twice since 2000. The 2009 financial crisis saw…
