Even as a recent study by the World Bank pointed out that nearly 80 per cent of people who slipped into poverty in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic hailed from India, the country has been ranked third amongst nations with the highest number of super wealthy people worth $100 million or more.
In the world’s first-ever global study on the rise of centi-millionaires – individuals with assets of over Rs 830 crore ($100 million), India is just behind the US and China and is set to surpass the latter in next ten years. This was highlighted in a new report by international investment migration advisory firm Henley & Partners.
While there are 25,490 centi-millionaires globally, India is home to 1,132 of super-rich tech titans, financiers, multinational CEOs, and heirs, beating countries like the UK, Russia and Switzerland. The US leads the list with 9,730 super-rich (38% of global centi-millionaires). China, on 2nd, has 2,021 centi-millionaires, which India will overtake by 2032, according to the report, quoted by ToI.
The UK is at the 4th place with 968 centi-millionaires, followed very closely by Germany in 5th place with 966.
While $30 million was considered the definition of ‘super wealthy’ in the late 1990s, it has soared to $100 million due to significant jump in asset prices.
“At around 57 per cent, the growth of centi-millionaires in Asia will be twice that of Europe and the US over the next decade. Concentrated primarily in China and India, the centimillionaires in these countries are set to eclipse their European and American peers,” said Misha Glenny, a financial journalist and author.
Amongst the fastest growing markets for the super-rich are Vietnam, India, Mauritius.
Top Cities for Centi-Millionaires
New York dominates the list for centi-millionaire host cities globally. It is the financial center of the USA and home to the two largest stock exchanges in the world, the New York Stock Exchange and the Nasdaq.
Following NY on the list is the San Francisco Bay Area, which includes San Francisco and Silicon Valley. It is expected to overtake New York at some point before 2040. Among the other top 15 cities including London, Singapore, Moscow, Mumbai ranks at 15 where 243 centi-millionaires live.
Top jewellery brands for the super-rich
It is no secret that the rich love luxury. It is not their guilty pleasure but their lifestyle. Moreover, an individual’s riches would be incomplete without jewellery. Pieces of ornaments from luxury brands are a staple for them.
Their top jewelry picks range from the Florentine designer Carolina Bucci’s modern brand to Frenchwoman Valérie Messika’s pieces — ‘disrupting diamonds since 2005’ — to other French brands such as Cartier and Van Cleef & Arpels, as well as the Italian Bulgari and Swiss brands Chopard and Piaget.
Meanwhile, the report has also shed light on the most popular pursuits of centi-millionaires globally in 2022 which include Golf, art collecting, cycling and mountain biking, skiing, horse riding, fishing, classic car collecting, hunting, yachting and sailing, watch collecting.
