We’ve all heard the term “billionaire,” but how many billionaires are actually in the world? According to Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires list, around 2,400 people worldwide have an individual net worth of more than $1 billion. More than 25% of them are in the United States.
The crew at 24/7 Wall St. tabulated data from Forbes’ Real Time Billionaires list to find the billionaires in each state. “The combined net worth of the billionaires in some U.S. cities exceeds the entire annual GDP of many states,” they note.
“The U.S. cities that are home to the most billionaires are often closely tied to the sources of their wealthiest residents’ net worth,” 24/7 Wall St. adds. “For example, many of the wealthiest people in the country have made their fortune through some association a successful company — and these people often live in close proximity to these companies. As a result, many of the cities on this list have high concentrations of companies in well-paying industries like finance, tech, and oil.”
So, what city in Michigan has the most billionaires? According to the study, it’s Franklin, which is where the one billionaire with the most wealth in Michigan lives: Daniel Gilbert. He’s worth an estimated $49.7 billion, and he’s the only Franklin resident with a minimum 10-figure net worth, but since he is worth so much, that makes Franklin No. 1 for billionaires. I knew Gilbert was rich but had no idea he was a billionaire, let along one with nearly 50 billion dollars.
Grand Rapids also has one billionaire (we can all guess who that is), but their net worth is $10.2 billion, which is less than that of Daniel Gilbert. It’s still a lot of money, though. If you’re wondering, the richest billionaire in the world, according to Forbes, is Elon Musk, followed by Bernard Arnault & family, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates and Larry Page. For the full list, visit 24/7 Wall St.’s official website.