TORONTO — Canada added seven billionaires in 2020, increasing its total to 53, tied for 12th-most in the world, up from 14th the previous year, according to a new global report.
The combined wealth of Canadian billionaires also tops US$100 billion, an increase of 4.5 per cent from last year.
In its latest billionaire census, Wealth-X, an ultra-high net worth (UHNW) data company, stated the number of billionaires in the world surpassed 3,000 (up to 3,204) for the first time in 2020, after an additional 670 individuals entered the billionaire class. The combined wealth of this group is now approximately US$10 trillion.
The share of wealth held by billionaires among the UHNW class, which is defined as those with a net worth of US$30 million or more, has also increased to 28 per cent, despite billionaires making up just one per cent of the UHNW population.
Seven of the top 15 billionaires in the world made their fortunes in the technology sector.
These are the top five billionaires by net worth as listed by Wealth-X:
- Jeff Bezos, Amazon, US$201.2 billion
- Elon Musk, Tesla, US$181.1 billion
- Bernard Arnault, Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, US$154.4 billion
- Bill Gates, Bill and Melina Gates Foundation, US$142.4 billion
- Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook, US$137.4 billion, Facebook
Here’s breakdown of the top 15 countries ranked by billionaire population and their combined wealth.
- U.S., 927, US$3.709 trillion
- China, 410, US$1.303 trillion
- Germany, 174, US$515 billion
- Russia, 120, US$397 billion
- U.K., 119, US$225 billion
- Hong Kong, 111, US$282 billion
- Switzerland, 107, US$318 billion
- India, 104, US$316 billion
- Saudia Arabia, 64, US$144 billion
- France, 64, US$238 billion
- Italy, 60, US$169 billion
- Brazil, 53, US$151 billion
- Canada 53, US$100 billion
- United Arab Emirates, 50, US$151 billion
- Singapore, 50, US$86 billion
