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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
However, there’s a downside to this growth of the super-rich as well, which I will address at the end of the article.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
So, let’s go back to the fantastically wealthy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
According to Forbes’ World\u2019s Billionaires list published last week, there are precisely 3,028 billionaires with a total fortune of $16.1 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
A wealth not curbed by global crises, indeed increased during the pandemic when technology stocks soared.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This means that the combined wealth of these 25 billionaires exceeds the entire Italian GDP of that year by more than 50%.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Broadening the picture, according to the UBS Global Wealth Report 2024, total global wealth amounted to approximately $450 trillion.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The reasoning is different.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
L\u00fcrssen 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).<\/p>\n\n\n\n
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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Today there is still enough for many, but how will the cards be reshuffled in 10 years?<\/p>\n\n\n\n
<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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 […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1311,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[355,297,347,358,348,360,349,350,351,352,359,357,353,354,356,312,328],"class_list":["post-1304","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","tag-billionaires","tag-cantieri-navali-en","tag-disuguaglianza-economica-en","tag-economic-inequality","tag-feadship-en","tag-forbes-worlds-billionaires-2","tag-forbes-worlds-billionaires-en","tag-global-wealth-report-en","tag-iper-ricchi-en","tag-lurssen-en","tag-luxury-yacht-market","tag-market-polarization","tag-mercato-nautico-di-lusso-en","tag-polarizzazione-del-mercato-en","tag-super-rich","tag-superyacht","tag-superyachts"],"yoast_head":"\n