Chinese Billionaires Made an Absolute Killing in 2017
By Carl Samson
Chinese billionaires added more to their wealth than the rest of the world in 2017, according to a new report.
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index — a daily ranking of the world’s 500 richest — reported that all 38 Chinese billionaires added $177 billion to their fortune, the largest gain among 49 countries listed.
The amount represents a 65.5% gain, followed by India (43.3%), Europe (20.9%) and the United States (17.9%).
Notable Chinese gainers include Hui Ka Yan, founder of property developer China Evergrande Group, who added $25.9 billion — a skyrocketing 350% increase from 2016.
Tencent’s Pony Ma, named the most generous Chinese philanthropist in 2016, also became Asia’s second-richest person after seeing his wealth hit $41 billion.
Meanwhile, the number of Asian billionaires also surpassed the U.S. for the first time, Bloomberg noted, citing a report from UBS Group AG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
At 159, the U.S. currently has the biggest number of billionaires on the index, addeding $315 billion to hit a total net worth of $2 trillion.
Overall, the index saw the wealth of billionaires increase by $1 trillion. Amazon’s Jeff Bezos ($100 billion) unseated Microsoft’s Bill Gates ($91.6 billion) as the richest person on Earth.
Share this Article
Share this Article
