World’s wealthiest have seen both their numbers and combined wealth fall
The annual Forbes World’s Billionaires issue includes 46 in Canada but overall wealth is slipping.
There are 2,153 billionaires on the 2019 list, down from 2,208 in 2018 and their total combined net worth is $8.7 trillion, down from $9.1 trillion in 2018.
While a report last year suggested that new-generation billionaires are becoming more driven, the world’s super rich were not able to avoid tougher conditions and 2018 was the first year since 2016 that there has been a decrease in both number of billionaires and their wealth and only the second decrease in the ranking’s 33 year history.
The richest of the rich is Amazon and Washington Post tycoon Jeff Bezos who increased his net worth by $19 billion to $131 billion.
He widened the gap with his closest rival, Bill Gates who was worth $96.5 billion, up from $90 billion last year while Warren Buffett’s net worth fell by $1.5 billion to $82.5 billion but secured him the No. 3 spot.
Buffett was not alone in seeing a decline in his fortune; a record 994 billionaires were poorer in 2018 than in the previous year.
The average net worth of this year’s billionaires is $4 billion, down from $4.1 billion in 2018. Of the total, 1,450 members are self-made.
“The billionaire ranks prove that even the world’s richest are not immune to economic forces and the volatility of world markets. Yet, even with strong headwinds, resourceful and relentless entrepreneurs find new ways to get rich,” said Luisa Kroll, Assistant Managing Editor of Wealth, Forbes.
Canada’s wealthiest
Among Forbes billionaires are 45 Canadians. David Thomson and family lead the pack, ranking 27th in the world with a $32.5 billion fortune including their controlling share of Thomson Reuters, The Globe and Mail, and a stake in Bell Telecom.
Canada’s second placed billionaire is some way behind the Thomsons; Joseph Tsai is vice chairman and co-founder of Alibaba. He holds a Canadian passport and is ranked 147th globally in the Forbes list with a $9.5 billion fortune.
Other Canadians listed include Mattamy Homes’ Peter Gilgan ($2.9bn) who recently announced the formation of a diversified investment firm Mattamy Asset Management; and Jim Pattinson ($6bn) whose holdings including the Ripley’s Believe It Or Not! chain.
Youngest billionaire
Kylie Jenner makes the list for the first time and is the youngest billionaire in the world and the youngest self-made billionaire of all time. She owns 100% of Kylie Cosmetics, the three-year-old beauty business that did an estimated $360 million in sales last year.
Thanks to Kylie Cosmetics and a new deal with beauty retailer Ulta, Kylie Jenner has an estimated $1 billion fortune https://t.co/h2jinPyGfQ #ForbesBillionaires pic.twitter.com/1uNgHt4zpU
— Forbes (@Forbes) March 6, 2019
