UAE: 18 billionaires own more than half a trillion dirhams in wealth
UAE billionaires are more than a third or $39.3 billion (Dh144 billion) wealthier and more than 50 trillion dirhams in wealthier 2024 as ever more high-net-worth individuals move to the Emirates to reap the tax-free income and peace of mind of their wealth.
The wealth of all UAE billionaires increased by 39.5 per cent to $138.7 billion (Dh509 billion), according to the annual report issued by Swiss bank UBS. So too did the UAE add another billionaire to its ranks bringing the total number of billionaires to 18 in the Emirates.
Billionaire Ambitious Report: Billionaire wealth in Europe, the Middle East and Africa climbed 17 per cent to $3.7 trillion and the number of billionaires increased by 70 to 728.
The UAE, according to the report, has the most billionaires in the Arab world and second in the Middle East only to Israel (26).
The UAE – as well as Switzerland, Singapore and the US – are also among the top five countries to which billionaires are shifting, in the context of the Covid-19 pandemic, the Swiss bank said.
"People had woken up because Covid-19 made them take stock of their lives. Billionaires were no exception. Millionaires never left home, never had a family, never owned a business that wasn’t here. But they’ve moved more often in the last couple of years, and since 2020, 176 have moved from a population of 2,682 in April 2024. That’s one in 15...They’re moving to Switzerland, the UAE, Singapore and the US. Totaling over $400 billion, over 400 billion billionaires have flocked overseas in four years, most billionaires have left from the Middle East and Africa,’ UBS said in its annual report.
"People are moving to countries not only for the tax advantages, but also for safety and political reasons," one US billionaire told UBS. ‘I left my country, state and city several years ago with my family and I got the privileges most want. As long as the political divide is not closed by failing policies that have not curbled crime, non-rule and unsafe systems and enabling an economic climate that unlocks potential, I’m afraid this will be the trend.
Across the globe, the research showed, global billionaire wealth increased 121 per cent from $6.3 trillion to $14 trillion in 2015-2024. With wealth increasing $2 trillion annually.
The tech billionaires have increased their fortunes the most in 10 years, and their industrials counterparts have not done so as well. The fortunes of tech tycoons trebled from $789 billion in 2015 to $2.4 trillion in 2024. Industrials billionaires doubled their fortunes the second most – $480 billion to $1.3 trillion.
And the billionaires’ attitudes to asset classes are changing at a moment when interest rates are likely embarking on an easing process in the US and Europe, potentially fostering growth, UBS says.
In the coming 12 months, 43 per cent of billionaires plan to invest more in real estate, and 42 per cent in developed market stocks, UBS revealed. They’re also spending more on familiy refuges.
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