One Billionaire Is Born Every Two Days In Asia

Written by: Cai Huiling Created: 30 October 2017

It Might Be Time To Cash In On The Tech Boom

With 162 newly minted billionaires in 2016, the Asia-Pacific region has surpassed the U.S. for the first time as the home to the world's super-rich, according to a study released on Thursday by the Swiss private bank UBS and global accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers.

This huge figure is roughly equivalent to having newcomers entering the ranks of the fabulously wealthy at a rate of one every other day, out of which, China not only accounts for roughly half of these burgeoning group of billionaires, but also has one of the youngest, with the average age standing at 55, lower than the global figure of 63. The study credits the resurgence in global wealth to the recovery in global commodity prices, bolstered by the booming technology sector currently disrupting numerous industries.

Surprisingly though, rather than further exacerbating socioeconomic class divisions, the explosion in billionaire wealth buoyed by the new technological innovations is proving to be beneficial for the rest of society.

Josef Stadler, global head of ultra-high net worth at UBS, told CNBC on Thursday; "If you look at the balance of the value added by disruption versus the jobs destroyed by disruption, it is a positive. Studies tell us that 98 per cent of the value added of tech innovation goes back to society and only 2 per cent is left with the innovators.

From this data, Stadler concluded that, “ you could argue and say billionaires are not only smart risk takers, they also contribute heavily back to the communities".

Written by: Cai Huiling

Huiling covers a diverse range of topics at Billionaire, fuelled by her passion for environmental sustainability and humanitarian advocacy. In her downtime, she enjoys getting lost in a good book and tending to her urban garden.