The Asia-Pacific region boasted the most billionaires for 2016 with 590 of them, according to the latest Forbes’ 30th annual ranking of the world’s billionaires.. The region was followed by the United States with 540, while Europe had 489. Canada has 33.
The Asian markets are down more than 20%, Chinese stocks turbulent, the yen devalued and consumption tepid, yet 97 of the 198 newcomers in hail from the Asia-Pacific region, followed by 10 in Hong Kong and 8 in India. In total, the region boasts 590 billionaires, accounting for nearly a third of the entire list.
While Microsoft founder Bill Gates maintained the top spot, Zara founder Amancio Ortega rose to number two.
He was followed by Warren Buffett at number three, and Mexican telecom tycoon Carlos Slim Helu.
Asia's usual suspects include Philippines Henry Sy, 91, who is worth over US$14.4 billion, the Ambani brothers in India, and Li Kai Shing in Hong Kong.
Asia’s newbies span varying backgrounds and a wide range of sectors.
Indian billionaires, Sachin Bansal and Binny Bansal, started selling books online from an apartment in Bangalore in 2007, pooling $600 from their savings and making deliveries on their motorbikes. Today their Amazon clone, Flipkart, has 45 million registered customers, makes 8 million shipments a month, and is valued at $15 billion.
Hong Kong national, Zhou Qunfei, worth an estimated $5.9 billion, emerged as the world’s richest self-made woman after her Lens Technology went public on the Shenzhen exchange last March, which , supplies glass components for phones and tablets for customers such as Apple. She reportedly grew up poor in rural China and worked at a glass factory.
China’s Cheng Wei is the cofounder of car hailing service Didi Kuaidi, Uber’s biggest competition in China. Cheng amassed a $1 billion fortune thanks to Didi’s $16 billion valuation after a $3 billion funding round in September.
However, Beijing has overtaken New York as the city with the highest number of billionaires for the first time.
A total of 100 billionaires are now living in the Chinese capital, compared with 95 in New York, .Hurun a private research firm says in a report
Hurun found that Beijing had welcomed 32 new billionaires since last year, allowing it to vault past New York which it calculated only saw four new billionaires.
Overall, China has overtaken the US as the country with the highest number of billionaires of the Dalian Wanda Group
China's billionaires boast a combined net worth of $1.4 trillion , which is similar to the GDP of Australia.
Hurun's chairman Rupert Hoogewerf noted that the growth in China's wealthy took place despite an economic slowdown and stock market instability.
He told the AP news agency that it could be due to Chinese market regulators allowing a flood of new share issues after holding back Initial Public Offerings for several years.
As in recent years, China mainland counted 70 new faces,; that’s up from 562 last year and exceeds the number of billionaires in the U.S. (540) for the second straight year.
Asia is expected to create more billionaire wealth than the U.S. within a decade, and the proliferation of moguls is expected to spur a buying spree of luxury items but particularly for private jets
Asian billionaires are now ordering private jets that can cost more than $70 million before spending on tricked-out interiors and customized painting of the exterior. There were about 16,000 private jets in the world in 2014, Bombardier said.
Asia-based private jet owners have an average net worth of $1.1 billion, compared with $520 million among average global owners, according to the Wealth-X and UBS World Ultra Report 2014. Asia owners also are younger and tend to spend almost 40 percent more on their fleet.
About 9,000 business jets will be delivered through 2024, generating about $267 billion in revenue for manufacturers, Bombardier said in its business aircraft forecast. About 1,540 of those planes — or 17 percent — are earmarked for Asia.
Before delivery, there’s often an extreme makeover of the interior that can include Bang & Olufsen entertainment systems, Swarovski jewels embedded in the ceiling to mimic twinkling stars and silk carpets with the owner’s name woven in the pattern. Hermes is used for dining ware, teacups, spoons, trash bins and even toiletry dispensers.
Seats can be upholstered in Chanel-patterned leather, and interiors featuring Fendi, Versace and Giorgio Armani brand materials are popular.
Manufacturers say Asia’s current stock market volatility and commodities downturn, and the push by Chinese President Xi Jinping to curb luxury spending, aren't affecting their long-term outlook for the region
The Forbes Billionaires list is a snapshot of wealth taken on Feb 12, 2016, when stock prices and exchange rates were locked in from around the world.
Below is the full list of newcomers from the Asia-Pacific region, they’re ranked in relation to the entire list.
188. Xu Shihui
Net Worth: $6.2 B
Country: China
205. Zhou Qunfei
Net Worth: $5.9 B
Country: Hong Kong
240. Jiang Jason
Net Worth: $5.4 B
Country: China
240. Xu Chuanhua
Net Worth: $5.4 B
Country: China
435. Wang Frank
Net Worth: $3.6 B
Country: China
549. Bhatia Kapil & Rahul
Net Worth: $3.1 B
Country: India
638. Yeung Kin-man
Net Worth: $2.7 B
Country: Hong Kong
666. Ke Zunhong
Net Worth: $2.6 B
Country: China
666. Lam Wai Ying
Net Worth: $2.6 B
Country: Hong Kong
810. Lim Sung-Ki
Net Worth: $2.2 B
Country: South Korea
854. Ji Changqun
Net Worth: $2.1 B
Country: China
854. Jiang Weiping
Net Worth: $2.1 B
Country: China
854. David Teoh
Net Worth: $2.1 B
Country: Australia
906. Huang Wenji
Net Worth: $2 B
Country: China
959. Huang Qiaoling
Net Worth: $1.9 B
Country: China
959. Wu Zhigang
Net Worth: $1.9 B
Country: China
959. Yao Zhenhua
Net Worth: $1.9 B
Country: China
1011. Chen Hua
Net Worth: $1.8 B
Country: China
1011. Zhu Qingyi
Net Worth: $1.8 B
Country: China
1067. Liu Xiaodong
Net Worth: $1.7 B
Country: China
1067. Leena Tewari
Net Worth: $1.7 B
Country: India
1067. Xu Ziquan
Net Worth: $1.7 B
Country: China
1121. Mehta Satish
Net Worth: $1.6 B
Country: India
1121. Patel Karsanbhai
Net Worth: $1.6 B
Country: India
1198. Fang Tonghua
Net Worth: $1.5 B
Country: China
1198. Kim Nam-Jung
Net Worth: $1.5 B
Country: South Korea
1198. Ni Zugen
Net Worth: $1.5 B
Country: China
1198. Zhang Desheng
Net Worth: $1.5 B
Country: China
1275. Chan Tan Ching-fen
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: Hong Kong
1275. Gao Tianguo
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: China
1275. Goenka Balkrishan
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: India
1275. Li Wa
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: Hong Kong
1275. Wu Jianshu
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: Hong Kong
1275. Zhou Yifeng
Net Worth: $1.4 B
Country: China
1367. Chan C.F.
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: Hong Kong
1367. Chen Baozhen
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Hua Yong
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Hung Yau Lit
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Li Weiwei
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Lu Di
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Ou Zongrong
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Ren Jianhua
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Wang Chaobin
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Wang Han
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Wu Gang
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Wu Xushun
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Yuan Fugen
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Zhang Bangxin
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Zhang Kaiyuan
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Zhang Zhangsun
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1367. Zheng Xiaodong
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Country: China
1476. Ao Xiaoqiang
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Bansal Binny
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: India
1476. Bansal Sachin
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: India
1476. Cai Xiaoru
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Chen Qingzhou
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Chen Yansheng
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Cheng Xianfeng
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Hur Young-In
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: South Korea
1476. Li Fucheng
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Su Weizhong
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Wang Junjin
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Zhao Xiaoqiang
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1476. Zheng Jianjiang
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Country: China
1577. Abdul Rasyid
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: Indonesia
1577. Amin Chirayu
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: India
1577. Cho Chang-Gul
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: South Korea
1577. Han Tao
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. He Yamin
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Hong Seok-Joh
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: South Korea
1577. Hua Xuande
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Kuan Kam Hon
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: Malaysia
1577. Li Yong
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Li Zhen
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Liu Zhiqiang
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: Hong Kong
1577. Pan Weiming
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Ru Jiyong
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Wang Junhao
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Wang Yue
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Xie Swift
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Yao Xinyi
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Yin Xingman
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: China
1577. Zhai Meiqin
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Country: Hong Kong
1694. Chen Jiancheng
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Chen Jiangtao
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Cheng Wei
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Cho Jung-Ho
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: South Korea
1694. He Zhiping
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Lo Siu-tong
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: Hong Kong
1694. Lu Feng
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Lv Yongxiang
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Peng Jianhu
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Shen Dongri
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Yan Jane
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Zeng Kaitian
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Zhang Wanzhen
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China
1694. Zhuang Min
Net Worth: $1 B
Country: China