Number of Billionaires More than Double in Six Years

Rather than delete something I forgot to publish from March 2006, I thought I'd post and update the staggering increase in the number of billionaires over the last six years, The tremendous amount of wealth accumulation in so few hands, in so little time, is truly incredible.

In 2006, the world had 793 billionaires, their combined net worth exceeding the combined net worth of the world's poorest 2½ billion people. Their total worth was $2.6 trillion. Saudi Arabia, whose 11 billionaires were worth $68 billion, compared to 2005, when its seven billionaires were worth only $42 billion stood out as one of the areas with the greatest concentration of wealth.

2007: Wall Street Billionaires


Fast forward to 2008 and the world has 1,125 billionaires worldwide, up 179 from last year. Their total combined net worth: $4.4 trillion, up 26 percent from the total wealth of last year's billionaires.

2008: Inside the Forbes 400