India stood third on the list of countries from around the world with the most billionaires ahead of the likes of European powerhouses in Germany and Russia as Forbes released their 2023 rankings of the world’s wealthiest people.
According to the Forbes 2023 rich list, there are 2,640 billionaires from a total of 77 countries or territories. Apart from India’s ranking on the list, there were no surprises in who took the top spot. The United States of America came in first with China in the second position ahead of India.
The US houses the highest number of 735 billionaires, the same as last year, as per Forbes. However, despite having the most number of billionaires, the US cannot boast of the world’s richest person. That honour went to France with Bernard Arnault, the founder, chairman, and CEO of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton.
On the other hand, the US can boast of former world’s richest persons in Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates, all of whom held the position previously.
For the first time this year, the likes of LeBron James and Tiger Woods were among 50 people who joined the billionaires list with Sam Bankman-Fried, Kanye West and many others dropping off.
The second position on the list was held by China which is home to a total of 495 billionaires this year, a significant drop from last year’s tally of 539.
However, it was India who bagged the third place on the rankings with a total of 169 billionaires. According to the data published by Forbes, the billionaires in India collectively held a net worth of USD 675 billion.
Meanwhile, Forbes reported that it was still a drop of USD 75 billion from last year, which could be mostly driven by the dramatic fall from grace of billionaire industrialist Gautam Adani following accusations made by Hindenburg Research. Adani’s wealth dropped by nearly USD 43 billion after the US-based short seller published a report alleging it of financial misappropriations.
Germany stood fourth on the list with a total of 126 billionaires this year, a drop from last year’s 134 billionaires. The country’s richest person is the owner of the Schwarz Group, Dieter Schwarz, having an estimated net worth of USD 42.9 billion.
Russia finished the off the rankings with a total of 105 billionaires who held a combined net worth of USD 474 billion.
