Let’s Rejoice, People: The Rich Are Increasing! The Number of Billionaires Worldwide Has Exceeded 3,000 for the First Time!
Those of us in the boat business should be happy, given that we sell to the wealthy and that we’ve already discussed small boating (which doesn’t interest billionaires).
However, there’s a downside to this growth of the super-rich as well, which I will address at the end of the article.
So, let’s go back to the fantastically wealthy.
According to Forbes’ World’s Billionaires list published last week, there are precisely 3,028 billionaires with a total fortune of $16.1 trillion.
A wealth not curbed by global crises, indeed increased during the pandemic when technology stocks soared.
Although the number of billionaires has grown rather gradually (in 2013 there were 1426), the total wealth of billionaires jumped in 2021 and recorded significant increases in 2024 and 2025.
As those who want to look at the numbers can observe, on average, each billionaire has become richer: compared to $3.8 billion in 2013, in 2025 each super-rich individual has $5.3 billion.
Although this category represents the extreme of inequality in the distribution of global wealth, even among them there is a strong disparity: the 15 “centibillionaires” (with assets exceeding $100 billion) are worth more than the “last” 1,500 billionaires combined.
If we add up the individual net worths as indicated by Forbes, we see that the total wealth of the 25 richest individuals in the world, updated to July 2024, amounts to $3,038.2 billion.
It is interesting to note that, according to the International Monetary Fund, Italy’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 2023 was approximately $2,010 billion.
This means that the combined wealth of these 25 billionaires exceeds the entire Italian GDP of that year by more than 50%.
Broadening the picture, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2024, total global wealth amounted to approximately $450 trillion.
According to Inequality.org, the richest 1% of the population owns 47.5% of global wealth, while 40% of adults hold less than 1% of total wealth.
I am not addressing considerations on how sustainable such a disparity is or how “fair” it is; it is not my intention to publicly discuss equity. Everyone is free to think and act as they wish.
The reasoning is different.
It is true that the number of billionaires has more than doubled in 12 years, but in the same period, the total number of people has increased by about a billion. So, it is predictable that it is easier to sell having an audience of eight billion people than having only 3,000.
But let’s pretend that we like this trend and consider it correct and sustainable: how will we continue to be the ones chosen by the few who can afford to buy what we offer?
For example, it is true that the percentage of people with boats among the super-rich is higher than the percentage of boaters even in very nautical countries.
Among the 25 richest individuals, 9 have at least one yacht: about 35%, no other country can boast this density. However, only 9 boats were sold… large, very large, but still 9.
Another aspect: with maturity, every market becomes a two-horse race, and the boating industry is no exception. If you look at the Top 100 yacht list published by Superyachts.com, the top two shipyards have carried out 49% of the constructions.
Lürssen Yachts has launched 35, Feadship follows with 14 yachts, Oceanco third with 8, and so on down the list. Our Benetti and Fincantieri Yachts have 4 in total (2 each).
The question I ask you is: in a world that is increasingly moving towards a polarization of the market, how do I plan to stand out from my competitors?
Today there is still enough for many, but how will the cards be reshuffled in 10 years?
