Forbes Central America
A quarter of the 2,755 members of Forbes ' 2021 billionaires list live in just 10 cities, and for the first time in seven years, New York lost its top spot as the city with the largest number of super-rich people in the world.
It was displaced by the Chinese capital, Beijing (also known as Peking), home to 100 billionaires, surpassing by one the 99 of New York City.
According to the Forbes study, the 10 cities saw net gains in billionaire residents over the past year. The report also revealed that, boosted by resilience during the pandemic, the four Chinese cities on this year's list—Beijing, Shanghai, Shenzhen, and newcomer Hangzhou—added 96 billionaires.
Shenzhen jumped from the seventh most popular city for billionaires to No. 5, Hangzhou ranked at No. 10 (overtaking the city-state of Singapore on the list), while Shanghai held steady at No. 6.
Despite a turbulent year in the Empire State Building, New York City added seven new billionaires. Across the Atlantic, London also gained seven more billionaire residents, though it slipped from fifth to seventh place as the most popular home for ten-figure fortunes. Rounding out the top ten, Moscow fell from third to fourth, Hong Kong dropped from second to third, while Mumbai and San Francisco, both home to 48 billionaires, tied for eighth.
This is how the top 5 ended up
1 | Beijing: 100 billionaires
From last year: +33
Total net worth: US$484.3 billion
Richest resident: Zhang Yiming, US$35.6 billion
Beijing added 33 new billionaires as China rapidly recovered from its pandemic woes, rocketing from No. 4 to No. 1 on our annual list. Beijing’s wealthiest newcomer is 34-year-old Wang Ning, whose booming toy business, Pop Mart, went public in Hong Kong in December 2020. Zhang Yiming, Beijing’s richest resident and founder of social media sensation TikTok, doubled his net worth to $35.6 billion.
2| New York: 99 billionaires
Since last year: +7
Total net worth: US$560.5 billion
Richest resident: Michael Bloomberg, US$59 billion
After slipping to second place, New York City's billionaires can take solace in their accumulated net worth, which is $80 billion more than Beijing's billionaires. Michael Bloomberg (worth $59 billion) remains the city's wealthiest individual. Newcomers to the Big Apple include Long Island native Boris Jordan, founder of cannabis distributor Curaleaf, as well as Alexis Lê-Quôc and Olivier Pomel, co-founders of cloud-based monitoring firm Datadog.
3| Hong Kong: 80 billionaires
Since last year: +9
Total net worth: US$448.4 billion
Richest resident: Li Ka-shing, US$33.7 billion
Despite a property slump and increasing Chinese interference in its political affairs, Hong Kong gained nine billionaires, propelling the former British colony to third place in the world for billionaires. Retired investment legend Li Ka-shing added $12 billion to his fortune, becoming the port city's wealthiest resident. Meanwhile, Hong Kong media mogul and former billionaire Jimmy Lai was arrested in August 2020 under the city's controversial national security law.
4| Moscow: 79 billionaires
Since last year: +9
Total net worth: US$420.6 billion
Richest resident: Alexey Mordashov and family, US$29.1 billion
Moscow also added nine billionaires last year, even as the city fell to number 4. Although Russia's GDP contracted in 2020, it was a good year for the capital's mega-billionaires; its 10 richest individuals got richer, adding US$72 billion to their collective fortunes.
5| Shenzhen: 68 billionaires
Since last year: +24
Total net worth: US$415.3 million
Richest resident: Ma Huanteg, US$65.8 billion
Shenzhen's 24 billionaires saw their net gains surpassed only by Beijing. All but one of Shenzhen's 68 billionaires are self-made, a testament to the city's nickname, "China's Silicon Valley." Shenzhen's wealthiest resident, Tencent boss Ma Huateng, increased his fortune by US$28 billion, bringing the web media mogul's net worth to US$65.8 billion.
