Mumbai overtakes Beijing and becomes the Asian city with the most billionaires

The key points

• On the podium in front of the Indian megalopolis there are only New York and London
• New Delhi enters the top ten in tenth place, China collapses
• In 2023, only the United States created more new billionaires than India

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From our correspondent – NEW DELHI

Asia has a new billionaire capital. It is the Indian megalopolis of Mumbai which, according to the latest edition of the Hurun Global Rich List, has overtaken Beijing to become the third world center for the number of super rich people behind New York and London. Two cities which – unlike Mumbai – offer the type of services and lifestyle desired by those who, once they have accumulated great wealth in perhaps unstable and sometimes dangerous countries, are looking for a safe place to “park” their fortune .

This year’s ranking, confirming the transformations taking place in the fifth economy on the planet, also saw for the first time the entry into the top tenof a second Indian city after Mumbai: New Delhi. The financial and political capitals of India have 92 and 57 billionaires among their residents respectively and, in addition to occupying third and ninth place overall, they are first and second in ranking of the nouveau riche (very richto be honest). Compared to a year ago, 26 more billionaires live in Mumbai, 18 in Delhi, plus dozens more in the rest of the country.

A phenomenon, that of the creation of large fortunes, which at the moment in India is second only to the United States. Negative record for the Chinese instead of today it has 155 fewer than a year ago (but it remains the country with the most: 814). In the general ranking, second place goes to the USA (800) and third, by a long distance, to India (271).

Scrolling through the list of the ten richest men on Earth, the specificities of the different countries come to mind. Of the eight Americans, seven ( Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Mark Zuckerberg, Larry Ellison, Steve Ballmer, Bill Gates and Larry Page) have made fortunes with companies operating in software, social media and technology, and one (Warren Buffett) choosing better than anyone else, over the decades, which companies to invest in. In the two remaining positions are the French king of luxury (Bernard Arnault) and the richest man in Asia, Mukesh Ambani, head of the Indian conglomerate Reliance Industries.