billionaires

The countries with the highest number of billionaires among their population, brought together in a very revealing graph

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The great fortunes they are not distributed uniformly across the planet. A few countries concentrate the majority of the world’s billionaires, while others barely contribute names to that exclusive club. The geographical distribution of extreme wealth leaves us with a snapshot that gives clues about which countries or tax policies encourage capital accumulation and they are the perfect breeding ground for generating wealth. In 2025, the wealth gap between the average population and the great fortunes has skyrocketed, but it has also left evidence of this difference between countries. The comparative graph prepared by Visual Capitalist allows you to compare this distribution in a very visual and direct way. The graph is powered by data provided by the study’Billionaire Ambitions Report 2025‘ prepared by UBS and the consulting firm PwC, in which an annual record of the number of billionaires is maintained. That is, people with assets exceeding one billion dollars at the beginning of the year. A billionaire factory To no one’s surprise, the US dominates by a wide margin the world ranking of countries according to the number of billionaires. The country hosts 924 people with a net worth of over a billion dollars, a figure that practically doubles that of the second-ranked player. This concentration also translates into a increase in joint wealthsince the sum of the US fortunes reaches a total of about 6.9 trillion dollars. China is in second place with 470 billionaires among its population. However, despite accounting for almost 50% of the billionaires in the US, their combined wealth is much lower, being close to 1.8 trillion dollars. That is to say, we only have half as many millionaires as the US, their combined assets are almost four times less. Third place on the list of countries with the most billionaires is occupied by India with 188 people with assets exceeding one billion dollars. Again, the comparison between India and China reveals a asynchronous growth between the number of millionaires and their total assets, with a combined capital of 888,000 million dollars. That is, with one third of China’s millionaires, the sum of the assets of the Indian magnates It is half of its Chinese counterparts. This reveals that a good number of Chinese millionaires have managed to overcome the billion-dollar barrier, but the accumulation of wealth from these great fortunes is not as pronounced as in other countries such as the US or India. The European map of billionaires Europe presents a internal distribution marked by notable differences between countries. According to data from the UBS report, Germany tops the European list with 156 billionairesbeing the main country on the continent in this aspect. Their combined fortune amounts to 692 billion dollars, which places them in a position alienated from the proportions of the United States or India. Common names also appear in the list in the lists of countries with millionaire populations, What are the United Kingdom like?which occupies fifth place with 91 billionairesor Switzerland with 84 great fortunes. In the following ranks are countries like Italy, which with 61 billionaires occupies the eighth position in number of great fortunes. France is also among the countries with outstanding figures, although well below these three leaders as it occupies thirteenth position in the ranking. In these cases, the harsh sales crisis in the Chinese and Asian markets for luxury products have seriously affected the balance sheets of exclusive brands like LVMH or Ferrariwhose owners are located as standard bearers of those great fortunes. The distribution of fortunes makes it clear that, even within Europethe concentration of billionaires tends to cluster in industrialized economies or with fiscal policies very oriented to capital returns. Spain takes positions Spain is not among the European countries with more billionairesalthough it has experienced recent growth in that select group. According to UBS data for 2025, the total number of Spanish billionaires who exceed the billion-dollar threshold It is 32 people. This figure places Spain as the seventeenth country with the most billionaires behind countries such as Germany, the United Kingdom or Italy in the continental ranking. The total combined wealth of the Spanish billionaires reaches $213.1 billion (about 182,602 million euros) in 2025, with an increase of 21.5% compared to previous years. However, in the Spanish case, the concentration of assets is not uniform, there is one figure that monopolizes a good part of that total assets: Amancio Ortega. In Xataka | Seven of the ten largest fortunes in the world in 2026 are due to AI: this illustrative graph makes it very clear Image | Visual Capitalist

A tax on billionaires has made the founder of Google seek refuge in Miami. A $173 million shelter

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Larry Page, co-founder of Google and second largest fortune in the world according to Forbespacks his bags after 30 years living in California. It’s not a whim. There is a compelling reason behind this decision: not pay taxes. However, the millionaire moves from state to state. the most millionaire way possiblewhich is none other than spending no less than 173.4 million dollars on two mansions near the sea in Miami. A house with a name and surname in Coconut Grove. According to published The Wall Street Journalthe co-founder of Google has acquired two properties in Coconut Grove, one of the most exclusive and luxurious neighborhoods in Miami, for about $101.5 million and $71.9 million respectively, for a total outlay of $173.4 million. One of the mansions was initially put up for sale for $135 million and extends over a 1.8-hectare beachfront plot, has 13 bedrooms and 15 bathrooms, several pools and gardens surrounding the construction. The mansion was owned by Jonathan Lewis, a well-known philanthropist and civil rights activist who died in 2023. The sale of this mansion known in the area as “Banyan Ridge“, closed in mid-December with a significant discount. ​A second retreat close. As and how they point From the specialized real estate portal Realtor, without leaving the neighborhood and just under four minutes by car from his main residence, the millionaire would have bought a second mansion for about 71.9 million dollars. This second property would also be located on the seafront with views of Biscayne Bay. In this case, the construction has about 1,579 square meters, seven rooms and belonged to the journalist and writer Sloan Barnett, heiress of billionaire George L. Lindemann, as he collected The Wall Street Journal. Fleeing the millionaire tax. Larry Page’s hasty move and other Silicon Valley millionaires It comes in the context of California’s plans to vote on approving a tax that would levy 5% to the estates of more than 1 billion dollars. According to what was published by The New York TimesIf the tax is approved, it could be applied retroactively to those billionaires who reside in California as of January 1, 2026. Therefore, in order not to be included in that calculation, Page has packed his bags to start the year as a resident in Florida. Analysts consulted by the American media calculate that, taking into account that it is the second largest fortune in the world with a valuation of 270.1 billion dollars, this tax could mean a tax bill of more than 13 billion dollars. Following in the footsteps of Bezos and Musk. Larry Page’s move is not an isolated or strange case. Jeff Bezos did the same from Seattle in 2023, although at that time justified his move to Miami to be closer to the family and operations of Blue Origin, his aerospace company. Bezos also made a grand landing in Florida, buying several mansions on the artificial island known as Billionaire Bunker for about 237 million. The change of residence (and state) has given you an estimated tax savings of about 1 billion dollars. Something similar happened to Elon Musk who, after his judicial dispute over the payment of his salary bonus of Tesla in Delaware, changed the headquarters of his companies and his residence to Texasavoiding paying 13.3% in California capital gains taxes. Bad news for your neighbors. The exodus of millionaires from California is making local real estate agents make a killing selling luxury homes in areas like Coconut Grove. Dina Gold Thayer, by Douglas Elliman, explained to The Wall Street Journal that “every two days, we show available homes to San Francisco clients. Everyone is in a hurry to buy to avoid the retroactive application of the wealth tax.” This rush to buy is an opportunity for residents, since their potential buyers had less room for negotiation, causing prices in the area to skyrocket even more. In Xataka | In a financial carom, Google has stood up to NVIDIA, leaving an unexpected winner in the crazy AI race: Larry Page Image | Flickr (Fortune Global Forum)

Spain adds eight more billionaires in 2025. A single fortune accounts for six out of every ten euros: Amancio Ortega, of course

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Before the arrival Christmas lottery and change the luck of some people, the latest report ‘Billionaire Ambitions 2025’ from UBS, reveals that Spain is experiencing a new leap in the elite of great fortunes, with more billionaires than a year ago. But that’s not all, since the report indicates that not only has the number of billionaires increased, but the volume of existing assets has also grown. That is, richer than they are richer. The rest of us mortals only hope to be healthy after the Lottery draw. Spain wins “ultra-rich.” He UBS report points out that in Spain there are already 32 people with assets exceeding 1,000 million dollars. This represents a net increase of eight new ultra-rich in the last year since the same 2024 report recorded 27 assets over one billion in Spain. UBS calculates that, together, these 32 great fortunes reach 213.1 billion dollars, equivalent to about 182.6 billion euros, as calculated Forbes. …and they are getting richer. This equity volume represents a growth of 21.5% compared to the previous year, an increase that UBS links to the good performance of some of the main businessmen in the country and to the greatest concentration of assets in the hands of a few families. According to these same sources, Spanish billionaires have added around 11.6 billion dollars (about 9.94 billion euros) to the national wealth in the last year, reinforcing the weight of this small group in the economy. Six out of every ten euros in the hands of Amancio Ortega. Within this new photo of the new ultra-rich in Spain that UBS has left, the weight of the enormous concentration of wealth in a single person has not gone unnoticed: Amancio Ortega, founder of Inditex. The UBS report indicates that the Ortega’s heritage It has remained at average levels of $124.1 billion during the last two quarters of 2025, after having increased its fortune by about $21 billion in just one year. This increase marks Ortega as the owner of approximately 58.2% of all the combined wealth of Spanish billionaires. That is, about six out of every ten euros of that group are concentrated in their personal fortune. The solidity of Pontegadea and the “great success” of Inditex. The strong increase in Ortega’s assets in 2025 is explained, to a large extent, by the strength of investments of Pontegadea, already converted into one of the real estate most solvent in Europeand by the behavior of Inditex on the stock market. In fact, Ortega’s textile empire has recently experienced one of the days most bullish of the yearin which each share of the company rose by around 8.9%, closing with a revaluation of 8.86%. This surge in the stock market has directly impacted the wealth of Ortega, who controls 59.294% of the capital of Inditex, causing the valuation of his fortune to skyrocket by $16,100 to the current $140.2 billion. assigns Forbes on your list. In Xataka | Amancio Ortega has collected dividends at Inditex: he has bought Amazon’s headquarters in Canada and has money left over Image | Unsplash (Igal Ness)GTRES

Brendan Foody, one of the new AI billionaires, has not had a single day off for three years: he doesn’t need it either

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Mark Zuckerberg has been for years the benchmark of success precocious in Silicon Valley for having become the youngest self-made billionaire at just over 23 years old. Now the baton is being taken by new startup founders of artificial intelligence. In this new scenario there is Mercor, an AI recruiting platform founded by three 22-year-old friends who met on the high school debate team and are today listed as the world’s youngest self-made billionaires. Brendan Foody, Adarsh ​​Hiremath and Surya Midha have made it to the Forbes list with an estimated fortune of 2.2 billion dollars. However, all that money has not been enough for them to take a single day of vacation in the last three years. The startup that breaks records. As and as highlighted Fortunein less than nine months the founders of Mercor turned an initial idea into a company with a revenue rate of one million dollars, that meteoric growth places the Foody employment platform among the startups that have climbed the fastest in the current wave of AI. The definitive leap that has put Foody and its partners on the Forbes list came with a financing round of $350 million led by Felicis Ventures, with participation from Benchmark, General Catalyst and Robinhood Ventures, which it granted to Mercor an assessment of 10 billion dollars. Forbes estimates that each of the three partners control around 22% of the company, which places their fortunes in billions at just 22 years old, surpassing Mark Zuckerberg himself, who reached that figure at 23 years old. Generation Z and the 996 days. Paradoxically, this success comes from partners belonging to generation Z, which is usually associated with a greater concern for conciliation and balance between personal and work life. However, according to what was published by Fortune, Foody’s work style is more similar to the famous culture “996” (day from 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. and six days a week) that is is imposing among the new Silicon Valley startups, which in the image of relaxed schedules and teleworking which is often attributed to the youngest. Three years without a single day off. Foody acknowledges that he has opted to follow an extreme work discipline since he dropped out of Georgetown University to focus entirely on Mercor. In his own words: “We work a lot, I have worked every day for the last three years,” he told Fortunebefore clarifying that, in his opinion, “people generally become exhausted, not only by working hard, but by working hard on something that is not as satisfying or enriching for them.” With this idea, Foody is located near the logic of culture 996but reinterpreted from the passion for his own project, where the long days they are experienced as an investment in a personal vision rather than an external imposition. It stops being an obligation and becomes a passion. Foody did not always experience work in this intense and voluntary way. Before creating his own company, he describes his relationship with work as something closer to disciplinary obligation than to deep motivation. “Often they were things I didn’t enjoy doing,” he recalled when talking about his previous stage. The turn came with the creation of Mercor, when the daily task began to be perceived almost as a creative obsession linked to one’s own project and a clear vision of the impact one wanted to achieve. “Compared to when we started Mercor, it became an obsession where I can’t stop thinking about, even if I’m having dinner with my parents or whatever, it’s spinning in my head,” Foody explained, stressing that this constant mental involvement means that he doesn’t even feel the need to take a vacation. Curiously, this feeling is not new. Bill Gates described a similar feeling in the early years of Microsoft. Then he understood that rest is necessary and even productive. Seeing results motivates you to continue. One of the keys to sustaining this pace that the young founder of Mercor highlights is to verify that the hours invested generate a clear return on the project. “I think the most important thing is to always make sure I see the impact of what I do, the return on investment (ROI) of the huge amount of time I put into it,” Foody added. In short, it confirms the old saying “find a job you like and you will never work again.” However, the origin of this motivation has a scientific explanationthe short-term rewards produced by the so-called “lens gradient effect“. Obtaining quantifiable results in the short term motivates you to continue working on the project. Especially if that impact is accompanied by a fortune of 2.2 billion dollars. ‘Genzers’ demolishing clichés. Foody’s story questions the clichés about Generation Z that portray them as reluctant to do the slightest sacrifice and rejects the excessive hours at work. However, it shows that when there is a strong connection between personal purposeperceived impact and financial rewards, some young people are willing to embrace extreme models of dedication. Faced with this narrative, the implicit question remains open for the new founders who They openly embrace the culture of “996”: if they demand the same from their teams level of delivery and commitment They, perhaps, should also ask themselves why these employees are not entering the Forbes list along with the creators of the company. In Xataka | “They are much more daring”: Gen Z is overturning all labor consensus in its massive entry into work Image | Pexels, Brendan Foody

Hundreds of billionaires pledged to donate their fortune. The philanthropic era of Bill Gates and Warren Buffett has come to an end

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In 2010, Bill Gates and Warren Buffett teamed up on an unusual project: convincing hundreds of millionaires that They didn’t need half his fortune and they owed billions of dollars to philanthropic projects. Sounds crazy, right? Well they got it. However, the model promoted by these two regular figures in the top 10 with the greatest fortunes in the last four decadesappears to be reaching a tipping point. They are coming tax reforms and moral incentives are not supported by the always convincing fiscal incentives. The golden age of philanthropy among millionaires could be in its final stages. Gates and Buffett’s original plan. The project The Giving Pledgelaunched by Gates and Buffett 15 years ago, invited hundreds of the world’s billionaires to sign a non-binding pledge promising to donate at least half of their fortune to charitable causes during their lifetime or after their death. Since its creation, more than 250 billionaires from 30 countries have signed this commitment, adding a combined fortune close to $600 billion in potential donations. according to calculations of Business Insider. Despite the magnitude of the figures, in recent years the viability of this model of collective philanthropy has been questioned. Warren Buffett himself recognized in his last letter to Berkshire Hathaway shareholders that its plan to engage and motivate the ultra-wealthy “hasn’t worked,” assuming the idea of ​​a golden age of mass philanthropy may be coming to an end. According to a recent report of the Institute of Political Studies, of the 256 signatories of the commitment to donate half of their fortune, only nine have fulfilled their promise. Open doors to philanthropy. The approval of the “One Big Beautiful Bill” Act, a fiscal package that imposes a 10% tax to foundations with more than $5 billion in assets, has significantly altered the philanthropic plans of many billionaires. The withdrawal of tax incentives makes donations They are no longer such a priority for great fortunes. According to what he told Fortune Kathleen McCarthy, director of the Center on Philanthropy and Civil Society“The insidious thing about this is that it will seriously affect the large liberal foundations like Gates, Ford and Soros”, which contributed millions of dollars to social, health and educational projects. “Whereas conservative foundations are much smaller and will pay a much lower rate,” McCarthy stressed. New ways to donate. This new scenario, which alienates large foundations from the front line of giving, is pushing philanthropists to look for alternative ways to give and modify their strategies. “Billionaires will begin to look for alternative mechanisms when they realize that they are being forced to close their foundations,” explains McCarthy. Practices like direct donation practiced by MacKenzie Scott, ex-wife of Jeff Bezos, and her Yield Giving foundation are gaining ground. Your strategy: donate the money directly to the organizations that develop the projects. Without intermediaries or segmentation of funds. According to a report of the Center for Effective PhilanthropyScott has already awarded more than $19.25 billion to 2,450 nonprofit organizations. This is how Bella DeVaan, from the Institute for Policy Studies in the article Fortune“I think she sets the trend and is an ethical reference in the way of donating money, as Gates has been.” Buffett’s family legacy. Although the era of massive philanthropy seems to end, Warren Buffett has not stopped giving. With Buffett’s retirement as head of Berkshire Hathaway, the investor has delegated part of his fortune in donations to the charitable foundations of his three children and his late wife. Annually, the veteran investor has been distributing billions in the form of actions to strengthen the family legacy and ensure that its wealth benefits society. However, in his latest donations from the millionaire a striking absence has been noted: the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation has already does not appear among its beneficiaries. In Xataka | The True Legacy of the Duty Free Founder: How Chuck Feeney Inspired Bill Gates and Warren Buffett Image | Flickr (Fortune Live Media)

“I have created more billionaires in my management team than any other CEO in the world”

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Jensen Huang is In the epicenter of one of the industries with the greatest Growth potential in which some are managed dizzy investment figures. That flow of money, also permeates higher wages, especially in those strategic positions such as It has shown well Mark Zuckerberg with his last rounds of signing of talent. Within the framework of a round of interviews with AI as a central axis, the CEO of Nvidia has presumed how well paid its closest collaborators. So Huang does not fear that his competition comes to steal his best talent. “They are very good. You don’t have to feel sorry for anyone in my management team,” Huang said. The Nvidia billionaire club. In a thematic days about organized AI by all-in podcastJensen Huang answered a question of moderators about the recent signings and millionaire hiring between AI specialists: “I have created more billionaires in my management team than any other executive director of the world.” Under the stock market results From the company, this statement is absolutely true since a good part of the remuneration of Nvidia’s responsibility positions have a package of actions linked to their position, and the rest of the company’s employees can take advantage of the Share purchase plan for employees (ESPP for the acronym in English of Employee Stock Purchase Plan). Through these plans, much of its template has become a millionaire. Working in the most profitable company has advantages. The price of Nvidia’s shares have not stopped growing in recent years, so any employee who had invested a minimum initial capital, would have increased substantially. According to published data by Fortunesince 2019, the company has increased 3,776% in the price of its shares, with a 170% rise in the last year. With a heritage valued at about 151,000 million dollars, Huang has made Nvid Become Millionaires. Small and well paid teams. Nvidia is one of the companies with Greater profitability by employee. That is, it is able to generate huge benefits with a relatively reduced template. Huang ensures that this is the formula for success in AI investigation. “Some 150 researchers in AI, with sufficient financing, can probably create an OpenAi. There is something elegant in small teams,” said the CEO of Nvidia. Huang said that this approach not only maximizes the performance of the teams, but also facilitates to make its “extraordinarily rich” members if they reach the expected success, putting as an example the OpenAI researchers or to the development team of Deepseek. Nothing moves in Nvidia without knowing Huang. Another feature of Huang’s leadership is that CEO knows everything that happens in your company thanks to a peculiar system Email -based that allows him to be aware of what he does or worries to the last employee of the company. This proximity allows Huang to affirm that it personally supervises “the compensation of all employees until today … and always increases the company’s expense on operational expenses.” According to Huang, there is a reason for weight to take care of your employees, “if you take care of people, everything else takes care of themselves.” The CEO has declared a joke: “Yes, I carry Stock Options In the pocket right now. “ Nvidia’s “gold wives”. However, these economic incentives of Nvidia are associated with a Extreme labor demandwhich implies eternal days seven days a week. Despite this intensity, Nvidia has registered a personnel rotation index below the average of its peers. According to his 2024 sustainability reportin that year it was only 2.7%, compared to the 17.7% that the semiconductor industry records on average. Bloomberg defined This phenomenon has been described as “gold wives” for those employees and managers who access these actions packages. In Xataka | Jensen Huang hates individual meetings with his team. There is only one exception: “If you ask me, I will leave everything” Image |Nvidia

The migration of billionaires in the last decade, explained in an illustrative graphic

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In the last decade, we have seen interesting changes in the Formation of new fortunes around the world and how new technologies were replacing oil, logistics or industry as origins of that wealth. However, these fortunes do not have to remain exclusively in a single country so, such as migratory birds, billionaires also They move around the world looking for the best conditions To develop your fortunes. Migratory fortunes The report ‘Billionaire Ambions Report 2024 ‘ Prepared by Financial Entity UBS has studied the movements of the great fortunes between 2015 and 2024, observing some patterns that reflect the economic policies that the different territories have taken and the effects that these policies have on the great assets. To help us have a more global vision of the subject, in Visualcapitalist have developed a graph with the data of the Migratory study of great fortunes of ubs. According to the report data, since 2020, about 176 billionaires, which in total totaling a joint assets of more than 400,000 million dollars, have moved to other countries. This means that approximately one in 15 billionaires in the world has changed residence Looking for more conducive airs for your fortunes. The reasons why they move are varied, but mainly they look for tax advantages and places where is easier do business. China, Switzerland and the United States are some of the most popular destinations for these ultra -ups. On the other hand, Eastern Europe has seen the largest exit of billionaires in the last ten years. China leaves a positive multimillionaire balance The case of China is quite paradigmatic since it has become the country that has won the most billionaires in net terms during the last decade. According to UBS records, in 2024, China had 501 billionaires in total. During the years that monitors the study, 73 ultrarricos moved to China from other countries, while 48 millionaires undertook the opposite path abandoning the country. The result is a positive balance of 25 billionaires for China. Despite the recent economic problems caused by the Real estate crisis in Chinathe total richness of its billionaires has doubled since 2015, reaching 1.8 billion dollars. Western Europe is the second region that has attracted the most billionaires in the last ten years, registering an increase 20 millionaires. In total, the billionaires of this region accumulate a joint wealth of 2.7 billion dollars, growing 16% since 2023. With 117 millionaires, Germany is the country with more population of millionaires from Europe, followed by Switzerland with 85 billionaires and the United Kingdom with 82. On the other hand, the growing geopolitical tension that Eastern Europe lives, and the subsequent outbreak of the Ukraine War, He encouraged the move of 29 millionaires from that area of ​​the continent. The United States has also been an important magnet for great fortunes, attracted to Innovation and investment poles as Silicon Valley and New York are. In the last 10 years, 55 foreign billionaires moved there, while 42 American millionaires left to other countries. With the boom in the stock market in 2024, the United States housed 835 billionaires with a combined wealth of 5.8 billion dollars, which represented a growth of 27.6% in one year. The fiscal policies that They have adopted Texas or Florida, are leading that some of the millionaires who were based in California or New York Rumbo to the south of the country. Middle East is in full reinvention process, with projects like Neomwhich seeks to unlink the richness of the country of its fossil resourcesturning countries as United Arab Emirates, into the right environment for investments and the creation of companies. A proof of this is that the richness of the billionaires of that country increased by 39.5% between 2023 and 2024. That favorable investor environment It has served as a magnet to host Millionaires from Southeast Asia, Australia or the South American cone, attracted by a most lax fiscal policy With capital income. In Xataka | How much money you need to be among the richest 1% in Spain Image | Visualcapitalist

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