Billionaires around the world account for nearly 40 percent of the global wealth. But they form just 0.01 percent of the total population of the world. Some feel that such a huge concentration of wealth in so few a hands is repulsive and that billionaires should not exist, while others feel that being a billionaire is the reward of years of toil and hard work and business acumen.

There are many media houses and magazines that publish lists of cities with the most billionaires around the world. In this article, I have chosen lists from 2 publications, i.e., Forbes and Hurun.

Cities with Most Billionaires

The Forbes Rich List

In 2020, there were 2,095 billionaires in the world and around 26 percent of them lived in just 10 cities located in North America, Europe, and Asia.

The Forbes list of the top 5 cities with the most billionaires for the year 2020 is presented below.

1. New York City

New York City tops the global rich list with the most billionaires in the world. As of 2020, 92 billionaires call NYC their home, 8 more than 2019. It may be noted that the Big Apple has topped this list for the 6^th successive year.

Former city Mayor and founder of Bloomberg LP, Michael Bloomberg is the richest person in NYC. His total net worth is around $48 billion, even after spending nearly $1 billion on his 2020 White House bid. Jay-Z, the billionaire hip-hop business magnate also lives in NYC. The net worth of all the billionaires in the city is estimated to be $425 billion, which is a decrease of around $44.7 billion from 2019. This can primarily be attributed to the Covid-19 pandemic.

2. Hong Kong

Hong Kong places second in the list with a total of 71 billionaires, 8 less as compared to 2019. The source of wealth for most of the billionaires is real estate development. During 4^th quarter of 2019, there was a sharp decline in property prices in Hong Kong which resulted in the loss of net worth for the richest in the city. Surprisingly, the new entry to the billionaires club in Hong Kong for 2020 was Lun Ruixiang, a real estate developer.

The net worth of all the billionaires in Hong Kong is around $321 billion. The richest in the island city is Lee Shau Kee with an estimated wealth of $28.1 billion.

With the recent change in the political situation in the island city, it may not make it to the rich list in the coming years. A lot of billionaires may flee the city to safe havens. The UK, former colonizer of Hong Kong, has offered political asylum to all residents of Hong Kong if they want so.

3. Moscow

Russia’s economy has been on the downturn for decades now, but there is no dearth of wealth and billionaires in the country. The capital city of Moscow is a close third in the list with a 70 billionaires. All of them are self-made billionaires, meaning that none of them have inherited the wealth. Most of them are close to the President of Russia, Vladimir Putin.

The total net worth of the billionaires in Moscow is about $301.7 billion. The richest billionaire in the city is mining tycoon Vladimir Potanin. His net worth is estimated to be $19.7 billion.

4. Beijing

Most publications and media houses agree that China has the maximum number of cities with the most billionaires in the world. The capital city Beijing is home to 67 billionaires, the 4^th highest in the world, and 6 more from 2019. Two of the new billionaires run after-school tutoring and online education companies, which was the need of the hour during the pandemic.

The total net worth of the Beijing billionaires is estimated to be $218.2 billion. The richest in the city is Zhang Yiming and his net worth is around $16.2 billion. Shanghai and Shenzhen are the other cities in China that make the top ten billionaires list.

5. London

The top 5 list ends with London, the capital of Great Britain. Around 56 billionaires reside in this beautiful city founded on the banks of the Thames River. It was a gain of 1 billionaire from last year. It may however be noted that 5 billionaires are from outside the UK, including Camilla de Godoy Bueno Grossi who inherited her wealth from her Brazilian healthcare magnate father, and founders of Playrix gaming, the Bukhman brothers from Russia.

The total net worth of the billionaires in the city is around $212.7 billion. The net worth of the richest person in London, Len Blavatnik, is about $17 billion.

Many may find it surprising, but even a poor country like India has numerous billionaires. A large percentage of them, around 38 billionaires, live in the coastal city of Mumbai, India. Singapore, rapidly becoming a city with rising billionaires count, comes in 10^th in this rich list.

2. The Hurun Global Rich List

According to the Hurun Global Rich List, Beijing is the city with most billionaires in the world for the year 2020. The Hurun List for the top 5 cities in the world with the most billionaire residents is provided below.

• The city of Beijing has 110 billionaires.
• New York City is second with 98 billionaires living there.
• Shanghai is home to 83 billionaires.
• Hong Kong has 76 billionaires who call the city their home.
• Shenzhen in China has 75 billionaires.

The surprising entrants in this list are Bangkok at 8^th with 56 billionaires and Mumbai at 9^th with 50 billionaires.

Cities with Most Billionaires in the World – Video

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