Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rihanna Reach Billionaire Status

The global billionaire population declined 8% year over year in the 12 months to January due to volatile stock markets and a strong U.S. dollar, according to new data.

However, Bernard Arnault of French luxury goods conglomerate LVMH saw his wealth increase 37%, boosting him to the first place on the list. Among the newly minted billionaires are sports and entertainment stars, including Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo and Rihanna.

There were a total of 3,112 individuals worth more than US$1 billion, 269 fewer from a year ago. The billionaires’ combined wealth also dropped 10% year over year to US$13.7 trillion, according to the Hurun Global Rich List 2023 released Thursday.

Wealth is calculated in U.S. dollar terms based on a snapshot on Jan. 16.

“Interest rate hikes, the appreciation of the U.S. dollar, the popping of a Covid-driven tech bubble and the continued impact of the Russia-Ukraine war have all combined to hurt stock markets,” Hurun Report chairman and chief researcher Rupert Hoogewerf said in a statement.

In the 12 months leading up to January, the U.S dollar appreciated against most major currencies. The British Pound and Japanese Yen were down 11% against the U.S. dollar, the Indian Rupee was down 9%, the Chinese Yuan was down 6% and the Euro was down 5%. For the wealthiest individuals whose assets are allocated outside of the U.S., a strong dollar means their net worth will be smaller in dollar terms.

The Hurun Global Rich List tells the story of the global economy through the stories of the world’s richest individuals. “Who’s up and who’s down highlights the trends in the economy,” Hoogewerf said.

Tech giants suffered the largest loss in the year. Jeff Bezos and his ex-wife MacKenzie Scott were down over US$100 billion in the year; Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin were down a combined US$85 billion; and Elon Musk was down US$48 billion. Combined, those five people alone lost US$250 billion.

Luxury brands including LVMH and Hermès made significant gains despite cost-of-living worries, according to Hurun. Arnault, chairman and chief executive of LVMH, became the world’s richest person with an estimated net worth of US$202 billion, a 37% increase from a year earlier. The company’s stock was up more than 30% on the back of record US$15 billion in profits and US$86 billion in sales in the 12 months leading up to January, according to the Hurun report.

Bertrand Puech and family, owner of luxury brand Hermès, ranked third with a net worth of US$134 billion, up 31% from a year ago. The family members agreed not to sell their share of Hermès for at least two decades, in a move designed to fend off a hostile takeover bid from LVMH. The company posted a US$3.6 billion record profit last year.

Musk, 52, dropped to second place with a net worth of US$157 billion, a 23% decrease from a year ago due to a significant decline in Tesla’s value. The electric-car maker lost US$700 billion in value last year, and Musk sold US$23 billion of Tesla stock to fund his acquisition of Twitter last October.

The rest of the top 10 includes, in order, Bezos, investor Warren Buffett, Microsoft founder Bill Gates and ex-CEO Steve Ballmer, Oracle founder Larry Ellison, and Mukesh Ambani, chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, a India-based petrochemical, retail and telecommunications conglomerate.

China had the most billionaires with 969, followed by the U.S. with 691. “It’s easy to see why the U.S. and China are so important economically. Between them they have over half of the billionaires in the world,” Hoogewerf said.

India came third with 187 billionaires, followed by Germany, with 144, overtaking the U.K., which has 134 billionaires.

The top three cities where billionaires claimed their primary residences are Beijing, New York, and Shanghai, each with more than 100.

The entertainment and sports industries are generating more and more billionaires. Soccer stars Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo both reached billionaire status for the first time, together with golfer Tiger Woods, the NBA’s LeBron James, boxer Floyd Mayweather, and retired tennis player Roger Federer.

Basketball legend Michael Jordan has remained on the list since 2014.

Additionally, musicians Rihanna and Jay Z made their first billion last year, while Paul McCartney and Broadway composer Andrew Lloyd Webber created their fortune through music licensing.

New Zealand filmmaker Peter Jackson, who directed the Lord of the Rings films, broke through the US$1 billion mark. Comedian Jerry Seinfeld and actor and producer Tyler Perry also joined the billionaire club, according to Hurun.

Other key findings from the report include:

1,078 billionaires saw their wealth increase, of which 176 were new faces. 2,479 saw their wealth decrease or stay the same, of which 445 dropped-off;
Russian retained eighth place in billionaire’s country of origin, with 70, down only two from last year;
In terms of industry, consumer goods (9.2%) and financial services are the top two sources of billionaires’ wealth;
82 billionaires are aged 40 or under, and 56 of them are self made. The youngest self made billionaires are husband and wife team from China, Han Yulong, 38, and Lu Jianxia, 30, owner of Manner coffee;
247 are self-made women billionaires; China dominated with 81%.

For decades, Australia has leaned into its reputation as the lucky country. But luck, as it turns out, is not an economic strategy.

What once looked like resilience now appears increasingly fragile. Beneath the surface of rising property values and steady headline growth, the Australian economy is showing signs of strain that can no longer be ignored.

Recent data paints a sobering picture. Australia has recorded one of the largest declines in real household disposable income per capita among advanced economies.

Wages have failed to keep pace with inflation, meaning many Australians are working harder for less. On a per capita basis, income growth has stalled and, at times, reversed.

And yet, on paper, things still look relatively solid. GDP is growing. Unemployment remains low. But that growth is increasingly being driven by population expansion rather than productivity.

More people are contributing to output, but not necessarily improving living standards.

That distinction matters.

For years, Australia’s economic success rested on a powerful combination: a once-in-a-generation mining boom, a credit-fuelled housing market, strong migration and a property sector that rarely faltered. Between 1991 and 2020, the country avoided recession entirely, building enormous wealth in the process.

But much of that wealth is tied to property. Around two-thirds of household wealth sits in real estate, inflated by leverage and sustained by demand. It has worked, until now.

The problem is the supply side of the economy has not kept up.

Housing supply is falling behind population growth. Rental vacancies are near record lows.

Construction firms are collapsing at an elevated rate. At the same time, massive infrastructure pipelines are competing with residential projects for labour and materials, pushing costs higher and delaying delivery.

The result is a system under pressure from all angles.

Despite near full employment, productivity growth has stagnated for years. In simple terms, Australians are putting in more hours without generating more output per hour. The economy is running faster, butgoing nowhere.

Meanwhile, government spending continues to expand. Public debt is approaching $1 trillion, with spending now accounting for a record share of GDP.

The gap between spending and revenue has been filled by borrowing for decades, adding further pressure to an already stretched system.

This is where the uncomfortable question emerges.

Has Australia become too reliant on a model driven by rising property values, expanding credit and population growth?

As asset prices rise, households feel wealthier and borrow more. Banks lend more. Governments collect more revenue. Migration fuels demand. The cycle reinforces itself.

But when productivity stalls and debt outpaces real income, the system begins to depend on constant expansion just to stay stable.

It is not a collapse scenario. But it is not particularly stable either.

Nowhere is this more evident than in housing.

The National Housing Accord targets 1.2 million new homes over five years, yet current completion rates are well below that pace. With approvals falling and construction costs rising, the gap between supply and demand is widening, not narrowing.

Housing is also one of the largest contributors to inflation, with costs rising sharply across rents, construction and utilities. Yet the private sector, from small investors to major developers, is struggling to make projects stack up in the current environment.

This brings the policy debate into sharper focus.

Tax settings such as negative gearing and capital gains concessions have undoubtedly boosted demand over the past two decades. But they have also supported supply. Removing them may ease prices briefly, but risks deepening the supply shortage over time.

That is the paradox.

Policies designed to make housing more affordable can, in practice, make the shortage worse if they discourage development. The optics may appeal, but the economics are far less forgiving.

It is also worth remembering that most property investors are not institutional players. The majority own just one investment property. They are, in many cases, ordinary Australians using real estate as their primary wealth-building tool.

Undermining that system without replacing it with a viable alternative risks unintended consequences, from reduced supply to higher rents and increased inflation.

So where does that leave Australia?

At a crossroads.

The country can continue to rely on population growth and rising asset prices to drive economic activity. Or it can shift towards a model built on productivity, innovation and sustainable growth.

The latter is harder. It requires structural reform, long-term thinking and political discipline.

But it is also the only path that leads to genuine, lasting prosperity.

The question is no longer whether Australia has been lucky.

It is whether it can evolve before that luck runs out.

Paul Miron is the Co-Founder & Fund Manager of Msquared Capital.

Lionel Messi, Cristiano Ronaldo, Rihanna Reach Billionaire Status

As housing drives wealth and policy debate, the real risk is an economy hooked on growth without productivity to sustain it.