How many billionaires live among us and how much of the world's total wealth do they hold?

Answer: 2,781 billionaires

Questions:

• How does the number of billionaires compare to the total world population? What does this tell you about the rarity of becoming a billionaire?
• Reflect on how the concentration of wealth among a small number of billionaires might impact economies and societies. What are potential positive and negative effects?
• If you had the resources of a billionaire, what would you do in terms of investment, philanthropy, or business ventures? Why?

Here are the ready-to-go slides for this Question of the Day that you can use in your classroom.

Behind the numbers:

"It’s been a banner year for the mega-wealthy. Forbes found an unprecedented 2,781 billionaires around the globe for this year’s World’s Billionaires list—141 more than in 2023 and 26 more than the previous record, set in 2021. The super-rich are also richer than ever, with their combined wealth hitting $14.2 trillion—$2 trillion more than just a year ago and $1.1 trillion above the previous record, also set in 2021."

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About the Author

Ryan Wood

Ryan grew up with and maintains a love for learning. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay with a degree in Business Administration and worked in sports marketing for a number of years. After living in Texas, Colorado, Tennessee, and Minnesota, the call of education eventually brought Ryan back to his home state of Wisconsin where he was a Business and Marketing teacher for three years. In his free time he likes to spend time with his wife and daughter, play basketball, read, and go fishing. Now with NGPF, Ryan is excited to help teachers lead the most important course their students will ever take.

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