Markets
Mapped: The Top 10 Billionaire Cities
Mapped: The Top 10 Billionaire Cities in 2020
In 2020, the world gained 493 new billionaires—that’s one every 17 hours.
For the last seven years, New York City has been home to more billionaires than any other city in the world. However, last year marked a monumental shift in the status quo.
Beijing has unseated the Big Apple, and is now home to 100 billionaires. That’s one more billionaire than the 99 living in New York City.
Today’s map uses data from Forbes to display the top 10 cities that house the most billionaires.
Where do the Most Billionaires Live?
The richest of the rich are quite concentrated in cities, but some cities seem to best suit the billionaire lifestyle. Here’s a breakdown of the top 10 billionaire capitals and the collective net worth of all the ultra wealthy that live there.
| Rank | City | Region | Number of Billionaires | Net Worth of the City's Billionaires |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| #1 | Beijing | 🇨🇳 Asia | 100 | $484.3B |
| #2 | New York City | 🇺🇸 North America | 99 | $560.5B |
| #3 | Hong Kong | 🇨🇳 Asia | 80 | $448.4B |
| #4 | Moscow | 🇷🇺 Europe | 79 | $420.6B |
| #5 | Shenzhen | 🇨🇳 Asia | 68 | $415.3B |
| #6 | Shanghai | 🇨🇳 Asia | 64 | $259.6B |
| #7 | London | 🇬🇧 Europe | 63 | $316.1B |
| #8 | Mumbai | 🇮🇳 Asia | 48 | $265.0B |
| #9 | San Fransisco | 🇺🇸 North America | 48 | $190.0B |
| #10 | Hangzhou | 🇨🇳 Asia | 47 | $269.2B |
Some cities have some obvious billionaires that come to mind. New York’s richest person and former mayor, Michael Bloomberg, is worth $59 billion. Beijing’s richest billionaire is the founder of TikTok (among other things), Zhang Yiming with a net worth of $35.6 billion.
In terms of the locations themselves, London, New York, and San Francisco are the only Western cities to make the list. Though New York was ousted from the top position last year, altogether the city’s billionaires are still worth more than Beijing’s.
One new city to make the top 10 list of billionaire cities was Hangzhou, the home of Jack Ma. It booted out Singapore from the 10th spot.
East Meets West
More than half of the top 10 cities are located in Asia, providing evidence of the shift eastwards when it comes to seats of wealth. Five of the six Asian cities listed are all in China.
What’s helped lead to this?
The country has seen an e-commerce boom, not in the least thanks to the pandemic. Additionally, the efficient handling of COVID-19 has allowed the economy to get back on track much more quickly than other countries. According to the BBC, 50% of China’s new billionaires have made their wealth either through tech or manufacturing.
Four of the Chinese cities on the list also had the biggest billionaire growth in 2020. Each of them gained more than 10 net new billionaires:
- 🇨🇳 Hangzhou: 21
- 🇨🇳 Shanghai: 18
- 🇨🇳 Shenzhen: 24
- 🇨🇳 Beijing: 33
The only other city to gain more than 10 new billionaires in 2020 was San Francisco with 11.
Now sitting at 698 billionaires, China is coming up on the 724 held by the United States. Beijing overtaking NYC could be the beginning of a larger tipping point.
Shifting Tides
Asia-Pacific’s collective 1,149 billionaires are worth $4.7 trillion, while U.S. billionaires are worth $4.4 trillion in total wealth.
Overall, it looks like the wealth tides may be turning as China continues to progress economically and more billionaires become based in the East over the West.
Markets
Charted: Tesla’s Unrivaled Profit Margins
This infographic compares Tesla’s impressive profit margins to various Western and Chinese competitors.
Chart: Tesla’s Unrivaled Profit Margins
In January this year, Tesla made the surprising announcement that it would be cutting prices on its vehicles by as much as 20%.
While price cuts are not new in the automotive world, they are for Tesla. The company, which historically has been unable to keep up with demand, has seen its order backlog shrink from 476,000 units in July 2022, to 74,000 in December 2022.
This has been attributed to Tesla’s robust production growth, which saw 2022 production increase 41% over 2021 (from 930,422 to 1,313,851 units).
With the days of “endless” demand seemingly over, Tesla is going on the offensive by reducing its prices—a move that puts pressure on competitors, but has also angered existing owners.
Cranking up the Heat
Tesla’s price cuts are an attempt to protect its market share, but they’re not exactly the desperation move some media outlets have claimed them to be.
Recent data compiled by Reuters shows that Tesla’s margins are significantly higher than those of its rivals, both in terms of gross and net profit. Our graphic only illustrates the net figures, but gross profits are also included in the table below.
| Company | Gross profit per car | Net profit per car |
|---|---|---|
| 🇺🇸 Tesla | $15,653 | $9,574 |
| 🇺🇸 GM | $3,818 | $2,150 |
| 🇨🇳 BYD | $5,456 | $1,550 |
| 🇯🇵 Toyota | $3,925 | $1,197 |
| 🇩🇪 VW | $6,034 | $973 |
| 🇰🇷 Hyundai | $5,362 | $927 |
| 🇺🇸 Ford | $3,115 | -$762 |
| 🇨🇳 Xpeng | $4,565 | -$11,735 |
| 🇨🇳 Nio | $8,036 | -$19,141 |
Data from Q3 2022
Price cutting has its drawbacks, but one could argue that the benefits for Tesla are worth it based on this data—especially in a critical market like China.
Tesla has taken the nuclear option to bully the weaker, thin margin players off the table.
– Bill Russo, Automobility
In the case of Chinese EV startups Xpeng and Nio, net profits are non-existent, meaning it’s unlikely they’ll be able to match Tesla’s reductions in price. Both firms have reported year-on-year sales declines in January.
As for Tesla, Chinese media outlets have claimed that the firm received 30,000 orders within three days of its price cut announcement. Note that this hasn’t been officially confirmed by anyone within the company.
Tit for Tat
Ford made headlines recently for announcing its own price cuts on the Mustang Mach-E electric SUV. The model is a direct competitor to Tesla’s best-selling Model Y.
Chevrolet and Hyundai have also adjusted some of their EV prices in recent months, as listed in the following table.
| Model | Old Price | New Price | Discount |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tesla Model Y Long Range | $65,990 | $53,490 | 18.9% |
| Chevrolet Bolt EUV 2023 | $33,500 | $27,200 | 18.8% |
| Tesla Model Y Performance | $69,990 | $56,990 | 18.6% |
| Chevrolet Bolt 2023 | $31,600 | $26,500 | 16.1% |
| Tesla Model 3 Performance | $62,990 | $53,990 | 14.3% |
| Hyundai Kona Electric 2022 | $37,390 | $34,000 | 9.1% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E GT Extended Range | $69,900 | $64,000 | 8.4% |
| Tesla Model 3 Long Range | $46,990 | $43,990 | 6.4% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E Premium AWD | $57,675 | $53,995 | 6.4% |
| Ford Mustang Mach-E RWD Standard Range | $46,900 | $46,000 | 1.9% |
Source: Observer (Feb 2023)
Volkswagen is a noteworthy player missing from this table. The company has been gaining ground on Tesla, especially in the European market.
We have a clear pricing strategy and are focusing on reliability. We trust in the strength of our products and brands.
– Oliver Blume, CEO, VW Group
This decision could hamper Volkswagen’s goal of becoming a dominant player in EVs, especially if more automakers join Tesla in cutting prices. For now, Tesla still holds a strong grip on the US market.
Thanks, Elon
Recent Tesla buyers became outraged when the company announced it would be slashing prices on its cars. In China, buyers even staged protests at Tesla stores and delivery centers.
Recent buyers not only missed out on a better price, but their cars have effectively depreciated by the amount of the cut. This is a bitter turn of events, given Musk’s 2019 claims that a Tesla would be an appreciating asset.
I think the most profound thing is that if you buy a Tesla today, I believe you are buying an appreciating asset – not a depreciating asset.
– Elon Musk, CEO, Tesla
These comments were made in reference to Tesla’s full self-driving (FSD) capabilities, which Elon claimed would enable owners to turn their cars into robotaxis.
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