The opportunities and stimulus measures resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically enriched the world’s wealthiest.
The total wealth of the world’s billionaire population reached $10.2 trillion by the end of July, according to UBS Group AG’s and PricewaterhouseCoopers’ Billionaires Insights 2020 report.
The report, released on Wednesday, examined the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on UHNWIs. The $10.2 trillion figure represents an uptick of 27.5% from the $8 trillion seen at the start of April, exceeding the previous peak of $8.9 trillion recorded at the end of 2018 despite an uptick in billionaire philanthropy.
UBS and PwC said that the report surveyed more than 2,000 billionaires across 43 global markets and accounted for roughly 98% of billionaire wealth, finding that billionaires across every industry saw heir wealth increase by double digits.
“The net wealth of billionaires in entertainment, financial services, materials and real estate sectors lagged the rest of the universe,” the report found, though the greatest wealth increases were seen in the healthcare, technology and industrial sectors. These areas each recorded growth of between 36% and 44%.
“Industrials benefited disproportionately as markets priced in a significant economic recovery, while tech companies performed well both due to the corona-induced demand for their goods and services, and markets discounting the value of their future cash flows in a low interest rate environment,” the report explained.
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World stock markets have now largely recovered since the beginning of the pandemic, in large part due to stimulus measures launched by governments to offset the impact of the global health crisis on the economy.
2020 has featured a number of other milestones for the ultra-wealthy, including Mark Zuckerberg’s ascension to centibillionaire status and Jeff Bezos’s net worth finally exceeding $200 billion, both of which occurred this August.
