Money
Millionaire to Billionaire: How Long Does it Take?
Millionaire to Billionaire: How Long Does it Take?
Years ago, a memorable exchange on Twitter took place after Canadian rapper Drake tweeted that “the first million is the hardest”.
Moments after, an unexpected reply came from Texan oil tycoon T. Boone Pickens:
The first billion is a helluva lot harder RT @Drake: The first million is the hardest.
— T. Boone Pickens (@boonepickens) May 31, 2012
Today’s infographic, also found here in interactive form, proves that Mr. Pickens may be on to something.
To get to a billion dollars, one has to make a million dollars at least 1000x over. While some people like Mark Zuckerberg have built companies that rapidly ascended the ranks, most people end up following the rule rather than the exception.
Credit Suisse says there are 33.7 million people that there were millionaires in 2015, and Forbes estimates that a mere 1,826 of these people are billionaires. That means only 0.0054% of millionaires become billionaires, making it quite a rare feat.
Whether you want to be the next Drake or the next Pickens, here’s a list of regions where immense wealth creation is happening, as well as the cities and countries with the most millionaires to help guide you.
Original graphic by: Fleximize
h/t: Business Insider
Economy
Ranked: The Top 20 Countries in Debt to China
The 20 nations featured in this graphic each owe billions in debt to China, posing concerns for their economic future.
Ranked: The Top 20 Countries in Debt to China
This was originally posted on our Voronoi app. Download the app for free on iOS or Android and discover incredible data-driven charts from a variety of trusted sources.
In this graphic, we ranked the top 20 countries by their amount of debt to China. These figures are as of 2022, and come from the World Bank (accessed via Yahoo Finance).
The data used to make this graphic can be found in the table below.
| Country | Total external debt to China ($B) |
|---|---|
| 🇵🇰 Pakistan | $26.6 |
| 🇦🇴 Angola | $21.0 |
| 🇱🇰 Sri Lanka | $8.9 |
| 🇪🇹 Ethiopia | $6.8 |
| 🇰🇪 Kenya | $6.7 |
| 🇧🇩 Bangladesh | $6.1 |
| 🇿🇲 Zambia | $6.1 |
| 🇱🇦 Laos | $5.3 |
| 🇪🇬 Egypt | $5.2 |
| 🇳🇬 Nigeria | $4.3 |
| 🇪🇨 Ecuador | $4.1 |
| 🇰🇭 Cambodia | $4.0 |
| 🇨🇮 Côte d'Ivoire | $3.9 |
| 🇧🇾 Belarus | $3.9 |
| 🇨🇲 Cameroon | $3.8 |
| 🇧🇷 Brazil | $3.4 |
| 🇨🇬 Republic of the Congo | $3.4 |
| 🇿🇦 South Africa | $3.4 |
| 🇲🇳 Mongolia | $3.0 |
| 🇦🇷 Argentina | $2.9 |
This dataset highlights Pakistan and Angola as having the largest debts to China by a wide margin. Both countries have taken billions in loans from China for various infrastructure and energy projects.
Critically, both countries have also struggled to manage their debt burdens. In February 2024, China extended the maturity of a $2 billion loan to Pakistan.
Soon after in March 2024, Angola negotiated a lower monthly debt payment with its biggest Chinese creditor, China Development Bank (CDB).
Could China be in Trouble?
China has provided developing countries with over $1 trillion in committed funding through its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), a massive economic development project aimed at enhancing trade between China and countries across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Many believe that this lending spree could be an issue in the near future.
According to a 2023 report by AidData, 80% of these loans involve countries in financial distress, raising concerns about whether participating nations will ever be able to repay their debts.
While China claims the BRI is a driver of global development, critics in the West have long warned that the BRI employs debt-trap diplomacy, a tactic where one country uses loans to gain influence over another.
Editor’s note: The debt shown in this visualization focuses only on direct external debt, and does not include publicly-traded, liquid, debt securities like bonds. Furthermore, it’s worth noting the World Bank data excludes some countries with data accuracy or reporting issues, such as Venezuela.
Learn More About Debt from Visual Capitalist
If you enjoyed this post, check out our breakdown of $97 trillion in global government debt.
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