Brazil is the 7th country with the most billionaires; check out more curious numbers

2,781 billionaires, a new record number on the Forbes list. The number of billionaires cited by the magazine this year is 141 more people than last year and 26 more than the last record, set in 2021.

Only 14 names on the list each hold more than US$100 billion. According to Forbes, this means that just 0.5% of the world’s 2,781 billionaires hold 14% of all billionaire wealth.

265 new billionaires joined the list. Among the newcomers are singer Taylor Swift; NBA legend and entrepreneur Earvin “Magic” Johnson; French designer Christian Louboutin; Todd Graves, founder of fast-food chain Raising Cane’s; Maggie Gu, Molly Miao and Ren Xiaoqing, the three co-founders of Shein; Antonio Gracias, friend of Elon Musk and investor in Tesla and SpaceX; among other names.

The technology sector alone is responsible for 38 newcomers. The increase in interest in Artificial Intelligence, accompanied by the growing demand for computer chips, helped to bring more names in the sector to the list.

Even with all the records and new names, the richest man in the world is still Frenchman Bernard Arnault, owner of luxury goods giant LVMH — an empire that owns brands such as Louis Vuitton, Dior and Givenchy. According to the magazine, his assets are valued at US$233 billion. Next, Elon Musk ($195 billion), Jeff Bezos ($194 billion), Mark Zuckerberg ($177 billion) and Larry Ellison ($141 billion) appear.

Underrepresentation of women. This year, women make up only 369 of the world’s 2,781 billionaires — that is, around 13%, the same number as last year.