Tech boom sees six new Israelis join billionaires list
Tech boom sees six new Israelis join billionaires list
Israel's billionaire count rises to 32, with a total fortune of around $86B according to UBS, driven by tech pioneers and global wealth growth.
Six new Israelis joined the billionaire ranks this year, bringing the total from 26 to 32, according to the UBS Billionaire Ambitions Report for 2024. Their total fortune is estimated at $86 billion. While UBS did not disclose the names of the new billionaires, earlier this year, Forbes’ World Billionaires List included 36 Israelis, five of whom were new entrants.
Four of these newcomers hailed from the cybersecurity decacorn Wiz, which rejected a buyout offer exceeding $20 billion from Google earlier this year. Wiz was founded in March 2020 by CEO Assaf Rappaport, CTO Ami Luttwak, VP of Product Yinon Costica, and VP of R&D Roy Reznik, all of whom Forbes estimated to have personal fortunes of around $1 billion. Another new entrant was monday.com co-CEO Roy Mann, whose wealth was valued at $1.3 billion.
Globally, billionaire wealth saw a significant rise over the past year. According to UBS, the combined wealth of the world’s billionaires surged by approximately 17%, driven by gains among the ultra-rich in the United States, which more than offset declines in China. The total number of billionaires globally increased to 2,682, up from 2,544 last year, while their combined wealth rose to $14 trillion from $12 trillion. For comparison, in 2015, their wealth totaled $6.3 trillion.
To put this in context, the World Bank estimates the global population at just over 8 billion as of last year, with a worldwide GDP of about $105.4 trillion—highlighting the concentration of wealth within a small fraction of humanity.
Most of the new billionaires this year were self-made, in contrast to the previous year's report, which showed a greater share of wealth coming through inheritance. The UBS survey, conducted between June and September, revealed that geopolitical conflict and inflation remain the primary concerns for the ultra-wealthy. Despite these challenges, North America was overwhelmingly seen as the region offering the best investment returns over the next year.
In the United States, the number of billionaires rose to 835 from 751, with their collective wealth climbing to $5.8 trillion from $4.6 trillion, driven by industrial and technology magnates. In contrast, mainland China saw a sharp decline, with the number of billionaires dropping to 427 from 520, and their combined wealth falling to $1.4 trillion from $1.8 trillion. This marks a significant drop from 2021, when China had 626 billionaires with a combined wealth of more than $2.5 trillion, according to previous UBS figures.
Reuters contributed to this report
