Who owns most of the wealth?
The top 1% holds $38.7 trillion in wealth. That's more than the combined wealth of America's middle class, a group many economists define as the middle 60% of households by income. Those households hold about 26% of all wealth. Low-income Americans, representing the bottom 20% by income, own about 3% of the wealth.
- Bernard Arnault, chairman of LVMH, is the richest person and the richest man in the world with a net worth of $231 billion.
- After Arnault is Jeff Bezos, founder of Amazon.
- Other billionaires with some of the largest net worths include Tesla's Musk, Microsoft's Bill Gates, and Oracle's Larry Ellison.
The pyramid shows that: half of the world's net wealth belongs to the top 1%, top 10% of adults hold 85%, while the bottom 90% hold the remaining 15% of the world's total wealth, top 30% of adults hold 97% of the total wealth.
You need more money than ever to enter the ranks of the top 1% of the richest Americans. To join the club of the wealthiest citizens in the U.S., you'll need at least $5.8 million, up about 15% up from $5.1 million one year ago, according to global real estate company Knight Frank's 2024 Wealth Report.
In the third quarter of 2023, 66.9 percent of the total wealth in the United States was owned by the top 10 percent of earners. In comparison, the lowest 50 percent of earners only owned 2.5 percent of the total wealth.
- Genghis Khan. 1206–1227. King of Mongol Empire. ...
- Zhao Xu. 1048–1085. ...
- Akbar, The Great. 1542–1605. ...
- Amenhotep III. 1388–1351 BC. ...
- Augustus Caesar. 63 BC-14 AD. ...
- King Solomon. 970–931 BCE. ...
- Mansa Mousa. 1280–1337.
As of today, no billionaire is within striking distance of becoming a trillionaire.
The richest 1% own almost half of the world's wealth, while the poorest half of the world own just 0.75% In fact, they have acquired nearly twice as much wealth in new money as the bottom 99% of the world's population.
The total net worth of the top 1%, defined by the Fed as those with wealth over $11 million, increased by $2 trillion in the fourth quarter. All of the gains came from their stock holdings.
The 95th percentile, with a net worth of $3.2 million, is considered wealthy, facilitating estate planning and possibly owning multiple homes. The top 1%, or the 99th percentile, has a net worth of $16.7 million and represents the very wealthy, who enjoy considerable financial freedom and luxury.
What percentile is $6 million net worth?
You now need a net worth of $5.8 million to be among the richest 1% of Americans, report finds. Americans need a net worth just south of $6 million to break into the richest 1%.
| Age by decade | Average net worth | Median net worth |
|---|---|---|
| 30s | $277,788 | $34,691 |
| 40s | $713,796 | $126,881 |
| 50s | $1,310,775 | $292,085 |
| 60s | $1,634,724 | $454,489 |
Net worth is the difference between the values of your assets and liabilities. The average American net worth is $1,063,700, as of 2022. Net worth averages increase with age from $183,500 for those 35 and under to $1,794,600 for those 65 to 74.
Household wealth or net worth is the value of assets owned by every member of the household minus their debt. The terms are used interchangeably in this report. Assets include owned homes, vehicles, financial accounts, retirement accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds, and more.
Total household wealth grew in 2022, but white households still hold the vast majority. Since 2010, the wealth disparity between Black and white families has persistently expanded.
Wealth In America: The Numbers
Top 5% wealth: The next tier, the top 5%, has a net worth of around $1.03 million. Top 10% wealth: The top 10% of the population has a net worth of approximately $854,900.
Swift's inclusion comes after Forbes declared the singer a billionaire in October 2023 and reported her net worth at $1.1 billion. In a rare feat, Swift is the first musician to reach the milestone solely from songwriting and performing.
decillionaire (plural decillionaires) Somebody whose wealth is greater than one decillion units of the local currency.
quadrillionaire (plural quadrillionaires) Somebody whose wealth is greater than one quadrillion units of the local currency. (by extension) An extremely wealthy person.
In 1916, John D. Rockefeller became the world's first billionaire, and in the hundred years since we haven't had a trillionaire. And today, not only do we have a trillionaire, we also have the world's first quadrillionaire.
Who is the richest man of all time in human history?
Wealth. Mansa Musa is renowned for his wealth and generosity. Online articles in the 21st century have claimed that Mansa Musa was the richest person of all time. Historians such as Hadrien Collet have argued that Musa's wealth is impossible to accurately calculate.
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the heiress to the L'Oréal cosmetics empire, holds the title of the richest woman in the world. Born in 1948, she is the granddaughter of Eugène Schueller, the founder of L'Oréal.
You now need a net worth of at least $5.8 million in order to be part of that small but elite group, according to the upcoming 2024 wealth report from Knight Frank. That is a notable 12% increase from the $5.1 million needed just one year ago.
If you earn $60,000 a year after tax and you don't have kids, you're in the richest 1 percent of the world's population. If you have a household income of $130,000 after tax and you've got a partner and one kid, you're also in the richest 1 percent.
Common types of securities include bonds, stocks and funds (mutual and exchange-traded). Funds and stocks are the bread-and-butter of investment portfolios. Billionaires use these investments to ensure their money grows steadily.
