In the COVID Era, Billionaires Grow Wealthier... 38 Koreans Also Listed

US Think Tank IPS Analysis
Global Billionaires' Wealth Increases 54% in One Year
No.1 Bezos, Amazon Founder

▲Jeff Bezos, Amazon Founder [Image Source=Reuters Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Kwon Jae-hee]Since the COVID-19 pandemic last year, the wealth of billionaires worldwide has increased by more than 50%.

According to data released on the 31st of last month (local time) by the U.S. think tank Institute for Policy Studies (IPS), the combined wealth of 2,365 billionaires worldwide rose from $8.04 trillion (approximately 9,097 trillion KRW) to $12.39 trillion (approximately 14,019 trillion KRW) in just one year, an increase of 54%.

This survey was conducted by comparing the changes in wealth of these billionaires between March 18 of last year and March 18 of this year, based on research from Forbes, Bloomberg, and others.

During this period, 270 new billionaires emerged, while 91 were removed from the list.

The top spot was held by Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon, whose wealth increased by 57% to $178 billion. Second place went to Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH (Louis Vuitton Mo?t Hennessy), and his family, whose wealth rose by 114% to $162.6 billion. Following were Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla ($126.5 billion), Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook ($101.7 billion), and Warren Buffett, chairman of Berkshire Hathaway ($96.5 billion).

The combined wealth of the top 20 billionaires increased by 68% over the year to $1.83 trillion, which exceeds Spain's 2019 Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of $1.3 trillion.

▲Founder of Nongpusanquan, Chairman Zhong Sansan

The billionaire whose wealth grew the fastest during this period was Zhong Shanshan, chairman and founder of China's bottled water company Nongfu Spring. Zhong's wealth increased 33-fold during this time. Kim Beom-seok, chairman of the board of Coupang, who successfully listed the company on the New York Stock Exchange, also saw his wealth increase 6.7 times during the same period, placing him on this list.

Meanwhile, among the 2,365 billionaires, 38 were Korean. Kim Jung-ju, CEO of NXC, ranked highest among Koreans at 144th place with $14.1 billion. Following him were Seo Jung-jin, chairman of Celltrion ($13.8 billion, 150th), Kim Beom-su, chairman of Kakao's board ($9.7 billion, 236th), Lee Jae-yong, vice chairman of Samsung Electronics ($8.4 billion, 287th), Kwon Hyuk-bin, founder of Smilegate ($6.7 billion, 390th), and Chung Mong-koo, honorary chairman of Hyundai Motor Group ($5.9 billion, 455th).

However, in the case of Lee Jae-yong, the wealth listed appears to be based on assets excluding the inheritance from Lee Kun-hee, chairman of Samsung Group, who passed away last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.