Asia Is Home To More Billionaires Than America

Many people would assume America is home to more billionaires than any other continent. But this isn't the case at all, according to Quartz.

As of the end of 2016, the world is home to 1,542 billionaires who control $6 trillion worth of wealth. By region, 637 of these billionaires live in Asia and 563 in the U.S.

By comparison, as of the end of 2015, there were 520 billionaires in Asia and 538 in the U.S.

Three-quarters of the new billionaires are located in China and India and gained their wealth mostly through rising commodity and real estate prices, Quartz's Eshe Nelson wrote.

If anyone is keeping score, the 563 billionaire Americans combined for a net worth of $2.8 trillion, which is up from 15 percent a year ago. The greater number of Asian billionaires combined for a net worth of $2 trillion, which is up from $1.5 trillion in the prior year.

Meanwhile, Amazon.com, Inc. AMZN's CEO Jeff Bezos holds the title as the world's richest person, CNN reported. After the e-commerce company reported a stronger than expected earnings report last week, Bezos' personal holdings of Amazon's stock netted him an extra $10 billion in wealth.

Bezos is worth more than $90 billion and leapfrogged Bill Gates once again to occupy the title as the world's richest person.

Related Links:

Jeff Bezos Adds 'World's Richest Person' To Achievements; A Chart Of His Career

8 Life Lessons from the World's Richest People