Billionaires around the world are moving to countries such as the UAE, Switzerland, Singapore and the United States to grow their wealth. In total, billionaires accounting for more than $400 billion have emigrated in four years, with the Middle East and Africa region attracting the most billionaire capital.
Within the Middle East and Africa, the aggregate wealth of UAE billionaires rose 39.5 percent to $138.7 billion, with the number of billionaires growing by one to 18. In total, the EMEA region’s billionaire wealth grew 17 percent to $3.7 trillion, with the number of billionaires increasing by 70 to 728.
Why are billionaires moving?
The shock of the COVID-19 pandemic made healthcare a priority, while young families increasingly value excellent education and a safe environment. As most billionaires are businesspeople, they also prize the ease of doing business, especially considering heightened geopolitical risk.
As a group, billionaires are aging and their families are growing. Naturally, healthcare and education become more important. They may also want to live in jurisdictions where legal structures support wealth transfer. This is why they are moving to countries such as Switzerland, the UAE, Singapore and the United States.
“People are relocating to jurisdictions not just for tax benefits, but also for safety and political reasons. I moved several years ago with my family to a country, state and city that affords the benefits most seek. Unless the political divide addresses failed policies that have yet to curb crime, lack of rule of law and safety, as well as fostering an economic climate that unleashes potential, I fear the trend will continue,” explained a US billionaire.
Billionaire wealth surges 121 percent globally
The 10th UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report reveals that between 2015 and 2024, total billionaire wealth increased by 121 percent globally from $6.3 trillion to $14 trillion. In comparison, the MSCI AC World Index of global equities rose 73 percent. During this time, the number of billionaires increased from 1,757 to 2,682. The peak came in 2021 with 2,686 billionaires. Since then, it has remained flat.
From 2015 to 2020, billionaire wealth grew globally at an annual rate of 10 percent. Since 2020, growth has stalled at 1 percent but this figure masks the continued expansion in the US, EMEA and parts of Asia, most notably India.
Regional growth levels
Chinese billionaire wealth more than doubled from 2015 to 2020, rising from $887.3 billion to $2.1 trillion. Since then, it has fallen to $1.8 trillion but the overall number of billionaires remains stable.
Meanwhile, North American billionaire wealth has continued to accumulate. From 2015 to 2020, their wealth increased from $2.5 trillion to $3.8 trillion, and from 2020 to 2024, it rose 58.5 percent to $6.1 trillion, led by industrials and tech billionaires.
In Western Europe, billionaire wealth accumulation has slowed slightly since 2020 against a backdrop of higher interest rates. It rose from $1.5 trillion to $2.1 trillion from 2015 to 2020, before increasing to $2.7 trillion by 2024, led by tech billionaires in fields ranging from software to messaging and music streaming.
Tech entrepreneurs lead growth
Tech entrepreneurs have played a steadily increasing role across the global economy. That has resulted in tech billionaires’ wealth growing the fastest of any sector, tripling from $788.9 billion in 2015 to $2.4 trillion in 2024. Meanwhile, industrial billionaires increased their wealth from $480.4 billion to $1.3 trillion as nations invested to sharpen their competitive edge, especially in the green economy.
However, real-estate billionaires performed in line with the broad trend until 2017 but have lagged since then, possibly due to a combination of China’s property correction, COVID-19’s impact on commercial real estate and higher U.S. and European interest rates.
What are billionaires investing in?
Billionaires’ views on asset classes are shifting at a time when interest rates appear to be starting an easing cycle in the U.S. and Europe, which may underpin economic growth. Over the next 12 months, 43 percent of billionaires intend to increase their exposure to real estate and 42 percent to developed market equities.
At the same time, they’re increasing investments in perceived safe havens. The UBS survey found that 40 percent of billionaires intend to increase gold and precious metals exposures over the next 12 months and 31 percent intend to increase cash exposures. This could reflect fears of heightened geopolitical risk and equity market valuations.
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Future outlook
Learning from the past 10 years, risk-taking billionaires will likely be at the forefront of creating two technology-related industries of the future already taking shape: generative AI and renewables and electrification. This year’s report shows how tech CEO founders are already leading the way, pursuing their visions with high conviction and an appetite for risk.
However, billionaires face economic uncertainty. Governments must balance fiscal soundness with mounting spending requirements, particularly in countries associated with aging populations. At the same time, geopolitical tensions will remain high, with ongoing barriers to international trade. Therefore, billionaire entrepreneurs will need several distinctive traits to reach success including smart risk-taking, business focus and determination.
