Wealth
Who are the World’s Richest Monarchs?
See this visualization first on the Voronoi app.
Who Are the World’s Richest Monarchs?
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.
They’re the original wealthy, the original elite—coming from long lines of succession that sat atop the economy and society of entire nations. And even in a world of democracies, and the democratization of wealth, the world’s surviving monarchs still have extensive access to real estate, company holdings, stock ownership, and of course, money.
We visualize the world’s 10 richest monarchs, based on estimates compiled by The Business Standard, a news platform based in Bangladesh.
Ranked: The World’s Richest Monarchs
Ranked first, the world’s richest monarch, is King Maha Vajiralongkorn from Thailand, with a net worth of $43 billion. This extraordinary wealth comes from stakes in real estate in Bangkok, as well as ownership in the country’s largest cement company and bank. For 80 years Thailand’s monarch’s royal assets were managed by Crown Property Bureau until they were transferred directly to the reigning King himself in 2016.
In 2018, this became a key issue in the wave of student protests in the country, which also questioned the “excessive royal budget.”
Here is the full list of the world’s richest monarchs, as estimated by The Business Standard.
Rank | Country | Name | Estimated Net Worth (USD billions) |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇹🇭 Thailand | King Maha Vajiralongkorn | $43 |
2 | 🇧🇳 Brunei | Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah | $28 |
3 | 🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia | King Salman Abdulaziz bin Saud | $18 |
4 | 🇦🇪 Abu Dhabi | Emir Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan | $18 |
5 | 🇦🇪 Dubai | Emir Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum | $14 |
6 | 🇱🇺 Luxembourg | Grand Duke Henri | $4 |
7 | 🇱🇮 Liechtenstein | Prince Hans Adam II | $4 |
8 | 🇶🇦 Qatar | Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani | $2 |
9 | 🇲🇦 Morocco | King Mohammed VI | $2 |
10 | 🇲🇨 Monaco | Prince Albert II | $1 |
The Sultan of Brunei, Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah, is the second richest monarch, with an estimated net worth of $28 billion. Most of this wealth is sourced from oil and gas investments—the sector is a mainstay of the country’s economy, and half of Brunei’s GDP relies on oil revenues. The monarch likes to spend his vast wealth on several luxuries, including a massive collection of 7,000 cars worth over $5 billion, and several private jets.
Ranked third to fifth are three Middle Eastern monarchs—King Salman bin Saud (Saudi Arabia), Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan (Abu Dhabi), and Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum (Dubai)—with wealth ranges between $14 billion and $18 billion. As an update to the source’s findings, Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan passed away in May 2022 (after this data was compiled), and was succeeded by Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan.
European monarchs, from Luxembourg and Liechtenstein, are the next richest—though their wealth numbers in the single-digit billions—followed by the Qatari and Moroccan monarchs. Prince Albert II from Monaco rounds out the top 10, with an estimated wealth of $1 billion.
Wealth estimates can often be hard to accurately summarize and often fluctuate with the value of holdings. Furthermore, depending the source, the top 10 can also include King Charles III and Juan Carlos I, the former King of Spain, both estimated at $2 billion.
Money
Charted: Which City Has the Most Billionaires in 2024?
Just two countries account for half of the top 20 cities with the most billionaires. And the majority of the other half are found in Asia.
Charted: Which Country Has the Most Billionaires in 2024?
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.
Some cities seem to attract the rich. Take New York City for example, which has 340,000 high-net-worth residents with investable assets of more than $1 million.
But there’s a vast difference between being a millionaire and a billionaire. So where do the richest of them all live?
Using data from the Hurun Global Rich List 2024, we rank the top 20 cities with the highest number of billionaires in 2024.
A caveat to these rich lists: sources often vary on figures and exact rankings. For example, in last year’s reports, Forbes had New York as the city with the most billionaires, while the Hurun Global Rich List placed Beijing at the top spot.
Ranked: Top 20 Cities with the Most Billionaires in 2024
The Chinese economy’s doldrums over the course of the past year have affected its ultra-wealthy residents in key cities.
Beijing, the city with the most billionaires in 2023, has not only ceded its spot to New York, but has dropped to #4, overtaken by London and Mumbai.
Rank | City | Billionaires | Rank Change YoY |
---|---|---|---|
1 | 🇺🇸 New York | 119 | +1 |
2 | 🇬🇧 London | 97 | +3 |
3 | 🇮🇳 Mumbai | 92 | +4 |
4 | 🇨🇳 Beijing | 91 | -3 |
5 | 🇨🇳 Shanghai | 87 | -2 |
6 | 🇨🇳 Shenzhen | 84 | -2 |
7 | 🇭🇰 Hong Kong | 65 | -1 |
8 | 🇷🇺 Moscow | 59 | No Change |
9 | 🇮🇳 New Delhi | 57 | +6 |
10 | 🇺🇸 San Francisco | 52 | No Change |
11 | 🇹🇭 Bangkok | 49 | +2 |
12 | 🇹🇼 Taipei | 45 | +2 |
13 | 🇫🇷 Paris | 44 | -2 |
14 | 🇨🇳 Hangzhou | 43 | -5 |
15 | 🇸🇬 Singapore | 42 | New to Top 20 |
16 | 🇨🇳 Guangzhou | 39 | -4 |
17T | 🇮🇩 Jakarta | 37 | +1 |
17T | 🇧🇷 Sao Paulo | 37 | No Change |
19T | 🇺🇸 Los Angeles | 31 | No Change |
19T | 🇰🇷 Seoul | 31 | -3 |
In fact all Chinese cities on the top 20 list have lost billionaires between 2023–24. Consequently, they’ve all lost ranking spots as well, with Hangzhou seeing the biggest slide (-5) in the top 20.
Where China lost, all other Asian cities—except Seoul—in the top 20 have gained ranks. Indian cities lead the way, with New Delhi (+6) and Mumbai (+3) having climbed the most.
At a country level, China and the U.S combine to make up half of the cities in the top 20. They are also home to about half of the world’s 3,200 billionaire population.
In other news of note: Hurun officially counts Taylor Swift as a billionaire, estimating her net worth at $1.2 billion.
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