What industry produces the most millionaires? Just take a look at Forbes and Bloomberg lists to answer this question as these analytical editions regularly make their own rankings of the world’s wealthiest people. These also contain information about the industries where millionaires and billionaires made their fortunes, so it may be interesting for those who are choosing a business to start.
Industries That Forbes Billionaires Prefer
This list is updated on an annual basis, and the latest 2022 variant contains 2,668 billionaires. The majority of them earned their money in the following 5 industries.
1st Place: Finances and Investments
The financial and investment sphere is a leader by the number of the world’s wealthiest people: 393 billionaires (which makes up 15% of the list) accumulated their fortune in this sphere. This figure exceeds the previous year’s indicator when the finances and investments took the lead as well but only contained 371 persons.
This sector includes:
- Hedge funds and direct investment tycoons
- Traditional bankers
- Founders of financial technologies
- Wealth managers
- Venture capitalists
- Billionaires that invested in different sectors
The wealthiest man in the mentioned industry is Warren Buffett, CEO of Berkshire Hathaway multinational conglomerate holding company, whose fortune is estimated at $118 billion.
It should be noted that the industry of financial services and investments has created a lot of new present-day millionaires. And this is no coincidence as the world economy is built on the financial industry.
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2nd Place: Production
The production sphere took second place among the industries that create the wealthiest people. There are 337 billionaires here, and you are highly likely to find even more millionaires! Just like in the finances and investment sphere, the number of rich people employed in the production industry increased by 36 as compared to the previous ranking.
The wealthiest representative in this industry is He Xiangjian (with a fortune of $28.3 billion), the founder of Midea Group engaged in home appliances production. The latter has over 200 subsidiaries and is traded on Shenzhen Stock Exchange.
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3rd Place: Technologies
Technologies ranked third among the top industries which produced the largest number of millionaires and billionaires. Forbes list contains 332 wealthy persons (12% from the total list) in this sphere. Analysts note that the majority of fortunes in the technological industry were made by the owners of Google, Oracle and Microsoft founded a few decades ago.
Jeff Bezos with a net worth of $171 billion is on top of the list of the world’s wealthiest technological entrepreneurs.
Technologies attract millionaires as you can make a fortune here quite quickly – if you are lucky enough, of course. A good example is Zoom: the company founded in 2011 cost more than 7 largest US airlines in 2020 (with some of them being over 50(!) years old).
One more advantage of the technological industry is its tight connection with almost any economic sector. Medicine, finances, agriculture, and many other spheres need technology! And if you know the needs that are common to all of them, you may get a product that can bring millions.
Here is a list of most popular places where millionaires keep their money most often to ensure its safety.
4th Place: Fashion and Retail
This industry has created 250 tycoons (9% from the list) who became rich by producing luxury brands and sports clothes. They also include the owners of large retail chains.
The millionaires and billionaires of the fashion and retail industry surely have their leader, and this is Bernard Arnault, the head of LVMH luxury items conglomerate. He also owns Hennessy and Louis Vuitton brands, and his fortune is estimated at $158 billion.
5th Place: Healthcare
This industry has produced 217 billionaires (8% from the total list), and it ranks 5th by the number of affluent individuals. Its wealthiest representative is Cyrus B. Poonawalla ($24.3 billion) who founded Serum Institute of India (the world’s largest vaccine manufacturer).
An upsurge of interest in the sphere among millionaires was observed during COVID-19 as the lack of medicines, equipment, and pills stimulated considerable investments in the medical industry. As a result, the world’s pharmaceutical industry is currently estimated at more than one trillion dollars. The reverse side of the coin is the fact that the healthcare sector is regulated more than other industries due to obvious reasons. Nevertheless, the healthcare sphere offers a lot of opportunities for earning wealth.
The top ten industries that enjoy most popularity with millionaires and billionaires also include:
- Food and beverages (8% from the whole Forbes list)
- Real estate (7%)
- Mass media and entertainment (4%)
- Energy sector (4%)
The list also includes several wealthy people that made a fortune in several areas at once, so the Forbes analysts could not relate them to a certain industry.
If we analyze the top ten richest people on the planes according to the Forbes list, we will see that it includes 6 representatives of the technological sphere and one tycoon from each of the other spheres:
- Automotive industry (Elon Musk – 1st place)
- Fashion and retail sector (Bernard Arnault — 3rd place)
- Finance and investment sector (Warren Buffett — 5th place)
The last but not least among the top 10 wealthiest people according to Forbes is Mukesh Ambani that owns companies in many sectors. In particular, his interests encompass petrochemistry, oil and gas production, telecommunications, and retail trade.
Want to know how the super-rich legally save on taxes? Explore the available loopholes in our new article.
Industries Preferred by the Wealthiest Individuals on the Bloomberg List
The Bloomberg Billionaires Index (the daily rating of the world’s wealthiest people) dated February 22, 2023 contains 500 people, and all of them conduct their activities in the following industries:
| Quantity | Industry | Share in the total quantity |
| 67 | Technologies | 13.4% |
| 65 | Production | 13.0% |
| 56 | Finances | 11.2% |
| 50 | Many industries (hard to pick out the main one) | 10.0% |
| 40 | Consumer goods | 8.0% |
| 35 | Retail trade | 7.0% |
| 33 | Energy | 6.6% |
| 33 | Real estate | 6.6% |
| 30 | Food and drinks | 6.0% |
| 28 | Healthcare | 5.6% |
| 63 | Mass media, goods, services and entertainment | 12.6% |
Millionaires are the people that have a fortune starting from $1 million, and each of them has his or her own way to wealth. However, the analysis of the mentioned lists of the world’s wealthiest people shows that they prefer the following industries:
- technologies
- finances
- production
It is the symbiosis of the first two of these which kick-started the new fintech sector whose dramatic growth we may observe on an almost daily basis.
Find out the optimal number of bank accounts that each millionaire should have.
Main Trends Among Millionaires in 2023
Knight Frank analysts published the annual report called The Wealth in January 2023. In addition to other interesting information it contains, the millionaires were polled to find out the opportunities they see in the current year. The majority of respondents mentioned the following sectors:
- 46% — real estate
- 33% — technologies
- 28% — capital market
Real estate is a leader, which is explained by the sector’s resistance to inflation. Besides, direct investments in real estate ensure better control and create possibilities for added value growth.
Interested to discover which bank is used by millionaires to keep their money safe? You can satisfy your curiosity here.
Where do Millionaires Prefer to Live at the Start of 2023?
It would also be interesting to find out where the majority of millionaires prefer to settle down, and we will attempt to find the answer to that question in the ranking provided by Visual capitalist. Here are the top 20 cities that are home to the most millionaires according to their list published on February 4, 2023:
| City | Number of millionaires | Country |
| New York | 345,600 | USA |
| Tokyo | 304,900 | Japan |
| San Francisco | 276,400 | USA |
| London | 272,400 | UK |
| Singapore | 249,800 | Singapore |
| Los Angeles | 192,400 | USA |
| Chicago | 160,100 | USA |
| Houston | 132,600 | USA |
| Beijing | 131 500 | China |
| Shanghai | 130,100 | China |
| Sydney | 129,500 | Australia |
| Hong Kong | 125,100 | China |
| Frankfurt | 117,400 | Germany |
| Toronto | 116,100 | Canada |
| Zurich | 105,100 | Switzerland |
| Seoul | 102,100 | South Korea |
| Melbourne | 97,300 | Australia |
| Dallas | 92,300 | USA |
| Geneva | 90,300 | Switzerland |
| Paris | 88,600 | France |
If you are interested to know more about the millionaire urban life, you can read more detailed information here.
It should be noted that the industry which makes the biggest number of millionaires may vary depending on the epoch and a multitude of other factors. However, the historical trend is to look for the majority of millionaires (and find them!) in the spheres connected with finances and technologies. And this is exactly what the different rankings of the wealthiest people confirm.
Many people think that it is easier to earn wealth in the industries with the largest number of millionaires. However, reality is different from expectations. The industry you are craving for may be pretty crowded, leaving you just a tiny chance of making a fortune. A time-proven method of becoming a millionaire is to create a new product that will be all the rage for consumers, and this does not depend on the industry.
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