The World’s Richest Made $237 Billion This Year
- China, Brexit, Trump trigger wild ride for global equities
- Rich get richer as fortunes whipsaw through $4.8 trillion
U.S. Billionaires Were Biggest Winners in 2016
In a year when populist voters reshaped power and politics across Europe and the U.S., the world’s wealthiest people are ending 2016 with $237 billion more than they had at the start.
Triggered by disappointing economic data from China at the beginning, the U.K.’s vote to leave the European Union in the middle and the election of billionaire Donald Trump at the end, the biggest fortunes on the planet whipsawed through $4.8 trillion of daily net worth gains and losses during the year, rising 5.7 percent to $4.4 trillion by the close of trading Dec. 27, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.