Beijing is the 'billionaire capital of the world' (again)

The capital claims the title for the most high-rollers for the third year in a row

In February, the Hurun Report released its 2018 Hurun Global Rich List, an annual ranking of the world's billionaires. For the third year running, Beijing's nabbed the top spot as the city with the most high-rollers with 131 billionaires calling the capital home (that's a bump of 37 more billionaires since last year). China as a whole (including Hong Kong and Taiwan) not only has the most billionaires of any country with 819 (a staggering increase of 210 billionaires since last year), but is also gaining billionaires the fastest, adding roughly four billionaires a week. Globally, there's one new billionaire every day. Gotta love that wealth disparity.

As of January 31, there are 2,694 billionaires from 68 countries in total around the world. Just two years ago, China and the USA were neck and neck with 534 and 535 billionaires respectively. Now, those numbers sit at 819 and 571, most likely due to the fact that China also leads the world in the number of self-made billionaires (as opposed to those who partially or entirely inherited their wealth).

Overall, 15 percent of the world's total billionaires are women and of that, a whopping 78 percent of those women are Chinese. According to Rupert Hoogewerf, founder of Hurun Report Inc, 'Chinese women completely dominate when it comes to the most world's most successful women in business.' Tech entrepreneur (and high school dropout) Zhou Qunfei is the richest self-made woman in the world with a net worth of 10 billion USD (though the richest woman in the world is still Walmart heiress Alice Walton with 44 billion USD).

For those of you into Chinese zodiacs, the report found that billionaires born in the Year of the Snake topped the list for the third year running, while those born in the Year of the Dragon had the most successful year, shooting up four places. And the world's richest man Jeff Bezos is a rabbit. Take from that extremely scientific analysis what you will.

Overall, the Hurun Global Rich List makes for pretty fascinating reading, if only just to see how the world's wealth is distributed. Scroll down to see the global rankings.

Top ten richest individuals in the world

1. Jeff Bezos (Amazon): 123 billion USD
   

2. Warren Buffett (Berkshire Hathaway): 102 billion USD

3. Bill Gates (Microsoft): 90 billion USD

4. Mark Zuckerberg (Facebook): 79 billion USD

5. Bernard Arnault (LVMH): 78 billion USD

6. Amancio Ortega (Inditex): 73 billion USD

7. Carlos Slim Helu (America Movil): 67 billion USD

8. Larry Ellison (Oracle): 54 billion USD

9. Larry Page (Google): 50 billion USD

10. Michael Bloomberg (Bloomberg): 49 billion USD

Top ten cities with the most billionaires

1. Beijing: 131
   

2. New York: 92

3. Hong Kong: 80

4. Shenzhen: 78

   5. (TIE) Shanghai: 70

   5. (TIE) London: 70

   7. Moscow: 62

   8. Mumbai: 55

   9. Bangkok: 43

  10. Hangzhou: 38

Top ten countries with the most billionaires

1. Greater China: 819
   

2. USA: 571

3. India: 131

4. UK: 118

5. Germany: 114

6. Switzerland: 83

7. Russia: 71

8. France: 51

   9. (TIE) Brazil: 49

   9. (TIE) Canada: 48

Want to ball like a billionaire? Hit 'Read more' for the most luxe experiences in Beijing.

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