.svg)
Amillionaire is an individual whosenet worth orwealth is equal to or exceeds onemillion units ofcurrency. Depending on the currency, a certain level of prestige is associated with being a millionaire.[2]Many national currencies have, or have had at various times, a low unit value, in many cases due to pastinflation. It is much easier and less significant to be a millionaire in those currencies, thus a millionaire in the local currency ofHong Kong orTaiwan, for example, may be merely of average wealth, or perhaps less wealthy than average. A millionaire inZimbabwe in 2007 could have been extremely poor.[3] Because of this, the term 'millionaire' generally refers to those whose assets total at least one million units of a high-value currency, such as theUnited States dollar,euro, orpound sterling.
At the end of 2011, there were around 5.1 millionhigh-net-worth individuals (HNWIs) in the United States,[4] while at the same time there were 11 million millionaires[5] in a total of 3.5 million millionaire households,[6] including those 5.1 million HNWIs. In countries that use theshort scale number naming system, abillionaire is someone who has at least a thousand times a million dollars, euros or pounds.
The word "millionaire" was apparently coined in French in 1719 to describe speculators in theMississippi Bubble who earned millions oflivres in weeks before the bubble burst.[7][8] The standard French spelling is nowmillionnaire,[9] though the earliest reference uses a singlen.[8] The word was first used (as millionnaire, double "n") in French in 1719 by Steven Fentiman,[citation needed] and is first recorded in English in an article inThe Times in 1795.[10] Earlier English writers also mention the French word, including SirWilliam Mildmay in 1764.[11] Theanglicisationmillionary was used in 1786 byThomas Jefferson while serving as Minister to France; he wrote: "The poorest labourer stood on equal ground with the wealthiest Millionary".[12]
While millionaires constitute only a small percentage of the population, they hold substantial control over economic resources, with the most powerful and prominent individuals usually ranking among them. The total amount of money held by millionaires can equal the amount of money held by a far higher number of poor people. TheGini coefficient, and other measures in economics, estimated for each country, are useful for determining how many of the poorest people have the equivalent total wealth of the few richest in the country.Forbes andFortune magazines maintain lists of people based on their net worth and are generally considered authorities on the subject.Forbes listed 1,645 dollar billionaires in 2014, with an aggregate net worth of $6.4trillion, an increase from $5.4 trillion the previous year (seeUS-dollar billionaires in the world).[13]
According to a report by Hurun, a market research firm based in China, the global billionaire population stood at 3,381 in 2022.[14] Sixteen percent of millionaires inherited their fortunes. Forty-seven percent of millionaires are business owners. Twenty-three percent of the world's millionaires got that way through paid work, consisting mostly of skilled professionals or managers.[15] Millionaires are, on average, 61-years-old with $3.05 million in assets.[16]
Depending on how it is calculated, a million US dollars in 1900 is equivalent to $37.8 million (in 2024):[17]
Thus one would need to have almost thirty million dollars today to have thepurchasing power of a US millionaire in 1900, or more than 100 million dollars to have the same impact on the US economy.
Dated ways of describing someone worthn millions are "n-fold millionaire" and "millionairen times over". Still commonly used ismultimillionaire, which refers to individuals with net assets of 2 million or more of a currency.[19] There are approximately 584,000 US$ multimillionaires who have net assets of $10M+ worldwide in 2017.[20] Roughly 1.5% of US$ millionaires are "ultra-high-net-worth individuals" (ultra-HNWIs), defined as those with a net worth or wealth of $30 million or more. There are approximately 226,000 ultra-HNWIs in the world in 2017, according to Wealth-X.[21] The rising prevalence of people possessing ever increasing quantities of wealth has given rise to additional terms to further differentiate millionaires. Individuals with net assets of 100 million or more of a currency are commonly termedcentimillionaires,[22] or more rarelyhectomillionaires.[23]
According to wealth research group Wealth-X that released its latestUHNW Cities report, showing the residential footprint of the world's top ultra-high net worth (UHNW) individual cities. ExcludingMonaco – which has very high UHNWI density –Geneva has the highest density of super-wealthy people per capita in the world. The city is known as the most compactmetropolitan area, and also enjoys a concentration of affluence.Singapore has the second-highest concentration, followed bySan Jose, the center ofSilicon Valley, and the largest city in Northern California.WhileNew York City leads in terms of overall UHNW footprint,London has a similar number of UHNW "second homers" despite a considerably smaller population.Paris features as the second-highest European city, after London, Wealth-X said.Among suburbs and smaller towns,Beverly Hills has the highest overall number of UHNW residents, andAspen has the highest concentration on a per capita basis, the report showed.Ultra-high net worth individuals are defined by Wealth-X as those whose total net worth is higher than $30 million (R400 million).[24]
The following are lists of regions, countries, and cities by the number of millionaires bynet worth (inUS dollars) based on an annual assessment ofwealth andassets compiled and published by theSwissbankCredit Suisse. According to estimates, in the middle of 2021, there were 56 million people worldwide whose assets exceeded one million US dollars, of whom nearly 40% lived in theUnited States.[25]
| Rank | Region | Numbers (in thousands) | Percentage of world total numbers | As percentage of total adult population |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| - | World | 62,489 | 100.0 | 1.1 |
| 1 | Northern America | 26,778 | 41.9 | 9.5 |
| 2 | Europe | 16,696 | 26.7 | 2.8 |
| 3 | Asia-Pacific | 10,755 | 17.2 | 0.8 |
| 4 | China | 6,190 | 9.9 | 0.6 |
| 5 | Latin America | 915 | 1.5 | 0.2 |
| 6 | India | 796 | 1.3 | 0.1 |
| 7 | Africa | 352 | 0.6 | 0.1 |
There is a wide disparity in the estimates of the number of millionaires residing in the United States. A quarterly report prepared by theEconomist Intelligence Unit on behalf of Barclays Wealth in 2007 estimated that there were 16.6 million millionaires in the US.[27] At the end of 2011, there were around 5.1 million HNWIs in the US,[4] while at the same time, there were 11 million millionaires[5] in a total of 3.5 million millionaire households,[6] including those 5.1 million HNWIs.
According toTNS Financial Services, as reported by CNN Money, 2 million households in the US alone had a net worth of at least $1 million excluding primary residences in 2005.[28] According to TNS, in mid-2006 the number of millionaire US households was 9.3 million, with an increase of half a million since 2005.[29] The study found that half of all millionaire households in the US were headed by retirees. In 2004 the United States saw a "33 percent increase over the 6.2 million households that met that criteria [sic] in 2003", fueled largely by the country's real estate boom.[30]
A report byCapgemini forMerrill Lynch on the other hand stated that in 2007 there were approximately 3,028,000 households in the United States who held at least US$1 million in financial assets, excludingcollectibles,consumables,consumer durables and primary residences.[31] According to TNS Financial Services,Los Angeles County, California, had the highest number of millionaires,[32] totalling over 262,800 households in mid-2006.[29]
| County | State | Metro area | Number of millionaire households |
|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles County | California | Los Angeles | 268,138 |
| Cook County | Illinois | Chicago | 171,118 |
| Orange County | California | Los Angeles | 116,157 |
| Maricopa County | Arizona | Phoenix | 113,414 |
| San Diego County | California | San Diego | 102,138 |
| Harris County | Texas | Houston | 99,504 |
| Nassau County | New York | New York | 79,704 |
| Santa Clara County | California | San Francisco | 74,824 |
| Palm Beach County | Florida | Miami | 71,221 |
| King County | Washington | Seattle | 68,390 |
several persons became bankrupt, who, beforethe war [of the Austrian Succession], were esteemed amongst the number of theirmillionaires; a term given to their rich merchants and brokers, when supposed to be worth a million of livres
1786 T. JEFFERSON Observ. on Démeunier's Manuscript 22 June in Papers (1954) X. 52 The poorest labourer stood on equal ground with the wealthiest Millionary
{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)