China overtakes US to host most dollar billionaires as 2020 stock market rally defied Covid-19 and minted wealth at a record pace

Hurun shows China surpassed the United States last year to become the first country with more than 1,000 dollar-denominated tycoons, with 1,058 billionaires last year compared with 696 in the US

Of 610 newly minted tycoons globally, 318 were in China, compared with 95 in the US, based on January 15 valuations

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Zhong Shanshan, the 65-year-old founder and controlling shareholder of Nongfu Spring, is Asia’s wealthiest person, according to Hurun Report. Photo: Weibo

Published: 3:30pm, 2 Mar 2021Updated: 4:11pm, 2 Mar 2021

One in every two newly minted dollar-denominated billionaires last year were in China, the first country to exit from a nationwide pandemic lockdown and the only major economy to have expanded last year, according to a list by Hurun Report.

China surpassed the United States last year to become the first country with more than 1,000 dollar-denominated tycoons, with 1,058 billionaires last year compared with 696 in the US, according to the latest Hurun Global Rich List 2021. Of the 610 newly minted tycoons globally, 318 were in China, compared with 95 in the US based on January 15 valuations, Hurun said.

“The world has never seen this much wealth created in just one year, much more than expected for a year so badly disrupted by Covid-19,” said Rupert Hoogewerf, chief research and chairman of Hurun Report. “A stock markets boom, driven partly by quantitative easing, and flurry of new listings have minted eight new dollar billionaires a week for the past year.”

The richest individuals on the planet became collectively richer in 2020 while the world was mired in unprecedented economic slumps caused by the worst public health crisis in decades, with the collective wealth of the 0.01 per cent swelling by 32 per cent to US$14.7 trillion. Their ranks also grew to encompass 3,228 known billionaires across 2,402 companies in 68 countries, according to the report.

Elon Musk is the world’s wealthiest centibillionaire. Photo: Reuters

China had six of the world’s top 10 cities with the highest concentration of billionaires, with Beijing at the top of the ranking for the sixth consecutive year as home to 145 of the ultra rich. Shanghai was in second place with 113 billionaires, edging out New York with 112. Hong Kong was in fifth place with 82 billionaires, behind Shenzhen’s 105.