[00:00.00]A new report finds that for the first time,
[00:03.81]Asian billionaires outnumber those in the United States.
[00:10.50]The number of Asian billionaires rose by nearly one quarter in 2016 to 637,
[00:21.78]according to the report published
[00:24.79]by UBS Group AG and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
[00:30.79]UBS is a financial advisory company
[00:35.57]that serves wealthy people around the world.
[00:39.86]PricewaterhouseCoopers is an international company
[00:44.77]providing accounting and tax services.
[00:48.95]The report counted 563 billionaires in America and 342 in Europe.
[00:59.53]It found that while the U.S. no longer has the most billionaires,
[01:05.82]it still has the most overall billionaire wealth.
[01:10.94]This is because more of the world's wealthiest individuals live in the United States.
[01:19.22]The increase in Asia was due to a sharp rise in self-made billionaires.
[01:28.16]About 75 percent of new billionaires came
[01:32.89]from Asia's two biggest economies, China and India.
[01:38.89]China by far had the highest number of new billionaires, 67, while India added 16.
[01:49.87]The combined wealth of Asian billionaires grew
[01:54.80]by almost a third in 2016 to $2 trillion, from $1.5 trillion in 2015.
[02:05.20]The total wealth of U.S. billionaires rose to $2.8 trillion in 2016,
[02:14.00]compared to $2.4 trillion the previous year.
[02:19.72]Most of the increase in wealth came from technological innovation,
[02:25.73]followed by financial services and materials, according to the report.
[02:32.76]If the current trend continues, the total wealth of Asian billionaires
[02:39.97]is expected to be higher than all U.S. billionaires in about four years.
[02:46.68]Worldwide, the report said total billionaire wealth rose 17 percent in 2016 to $6 trillion.
[02:58.88]This was largely fueled by the increase in Asian billionaires.
[03:05.26]It also came from strong economic growth in materials,
[03:10.43]industrial production, financial services and technology.
[03:16.59]In Europe, billionaire wealth remained largely unchanged from 2015 to 2016.
[03:25.29]Overall wealth grew just 5 percent to $1.3 trillion.
[03:32.06]Europe added 24 new billionaires in 2016,
[03:37.80]while 21 dropped off the list, a third of them due to death.
[03:43.63]The report estimated that the 1,542 billionaires studied either owned
[03:52.46]or partly owned companies that employ at least 27.7 million people worldwide.
[04:01.73]Billionaires in various countries are increasingly
[04:06.07]putting more of their money into philanthropy, art and sports.
[04:11.61]Many invested in major sports clubs, including soccer, baseball and basketball.
[04:19.89]"According to our analysis, more than 140 of the top sports clubs globally
[04:27.91]are owned by just 109 billionaires," the report said.
[04:34.18]Overall, the average billionaire's age is 63.
[04:40.05]In America it is 67 years old, while the average in Asia is 59.
[04:47.58]Chinese billionaires averaged 55 years old.
[04:52.41]Among all billionaires, the report found
[04:56.35]those involved in technology were the youngest.
[05:00.25]On average, they became billionaires at age 47.
[05:06.67]I'm Bryan Lynn.