In just the last two years, Forbes has added an astonishing 215 new names to the ranks of the world's billionaires.
In 2003 Forbes found 476 billionaires. Today it's a record 671. Their aggregate net worth has grown from $1.4 trillion to $2.2 trillion. The average net worth has also jumped, from $2.9 billion to $3.2 billion. To what do the billionaires owe their good fortunes?
In part, the rich can thank improved global economic factors for their swelling fortunes. Bullish world stock markets, a weak dollar and surging commodity and real estate prices have all played a part. But so has old-fashioned entrepreneurialism.
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Take Google. In the seven years since its founding, two Stanford graduate students have grown a computer science project into a world-class corporation, with a market capitalization of nearly $49 billion. Along the way, they have become billionaires, seven times over.
Just three years ago, a gloomy global forecast sunk the fortunes of 249 billionaires and purged 83 from the Forbes list entirely. "Terrorism and tumbling economies have made these pretty tough times for your average Joe to make a billion dollars," Forbes wrote then. The following year, Forbes struck another 67 off the list.
Compare that with the record number 131 new billionaires this year. Even more amazing is that the gains have come from nearly every region and across 20 different industries.
Obviously, many non-US billionaires have seen their dollar-denominated fortunes grow because of the weakness of the dollar. For instance, a billionaire whose fortune is based in euros could have done absolutely nothing in the past two years and still be 20% richer on the Forbes US-dollar-based
Many countries also benefited from strong stock markets. Since 2002, the Saudi Stock Exchange is up 220%, the Mexican Bolsa 100% and the Brazilian Bovespa 89%. The stock exchange of tiny Iceland (which has a smaller population than Peoria, Ill.) jumped 225%. Iceland now boasts its first billionaire, Thor Bjorgolfsson.
The US, also thrived, adding 69 new billionaires. The US is now home to an astonishing 341 billionaires, just shy of half the world's billionaire population.
Strong stock markets fueled much of this growth: Since the end of January 2003, the S&P 500 is up 38%, and the Nasdaq has gained 56%.
Five years ago, technology and the Internet fueled much of the new wealth. Not so these past two years, as a number of industries thrived.
Finance created 27 fortunes in the past two years; real estate was the source of 16; and food and beverages created 12. Gaming created two new fortunes and boosted American casino titan Sheldon Adelson's net worth by $14 billion.
Of course, commodities have begun their own bull run of late. A barrel of crude oil cost just $20 in early 2002. Today a barrel costs north of $50. Driven in large measure by demand from China, steel prices are up 60% this year alone.
Iron ore, steel and copper have also realised similar surges in price per ton. As a result, mineral-rich nations like Ukraine and Kazakhstan now have their first billionaires.
The richest new billionaire was American pipeline tycoon Dan Duncan, worth $5.1 billion. But the biggest commodity benefactor was India's Lakshmi Mittal, the steel titan whose net worth rose $18.8 billion in the past 12 months.
Not every billionaire has benefited from the rising tide. In Russia, all the partners involved with troubled oil company saw their fortunes plunge. Mikhail Khodorkovsky's net worth fell $12.8 billion this year. His five partners all dropped off the list.
Less dramatic was the weak performance of the Wal-Mart heirs. As Wal-Mart stock stumbled, four of the five heirs to the Walton throne fell out of the top ten.
Even the richest person in the world is not immune: Bill Gates keeps his throne for another year, but with Microsoft stock flat-lining, his days as the world's richest man may be numbered.
