Wealthy Eye London, New York as World’s Rich to Increase by 50%

London and New York will be the top destinations for the world’s wealthy elite as the number of people worth more than $30 million swells 50 percent over the next decade, according to Knight Frank LLP’s Wealth Report.

The two cities will remain the favored locations for the world’s richest people until 2023 even though the fastest wealth creation will be in Asia and Latin America, according to the London-based property consulting firm.

The wealthiest 100 billionaires’ net worth rose by $241 billion to $1.9 trillion in 2012 in spite of Europe’s debt crisis and a stalling U.S. economic recovery, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world’s 100 wealthiest individuals. Carlos Slim, the telecommunications magnate who controls Mexico’s America Movil SAB (AMX), is the richest person in the world with a net worth of $71 billion, followed by Microsoft Corp. (MSFT) founder Bill Gates and Amancio Ortega, founder of retailer Inditex SA. (ITX)

“Wealth creation has not been dented by the global economy slowing, nor has this affected the demand for prime property as the search for safe haven investments has continued,” said Liam Bailey, global head of residential research at Knight Frank. “These factors will likely drive prime values higher in the short to medium term.” Read more >>

World's 100 richest people got $241 billion richer in 2012

The richest people on the planet got even richer in 2012, adding $241 billion to their collective net worth, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, a daily ranking of the world's 100 wealthiest individuals.

The aggregate net worth of the world's top 100 stood at $1.9 trillion at the market close Dec. 31, according to the index. Of the people who appeared on the final ranking of 2012, only 16 registered a net loss for the 12-month period.

"Last year was a great one for the world's billionaires," said John Catsimatidis, the billionaire owner of Red Apple Group Inc., in an email written poolside on his BlackBerry in the Bahamas. "In 2013, they will continue looking for investments around the world — and not necessarily in U.S. — that will give them an advantage."

Amancio Ortega, the Spaniard who founded retailer Inditex, was the year's biggest gainer. The 76-year-old tycoon's fortune increased to $57.5 billion, a gain of $22.2 billion, according to the index, as shares of the retailer that operates the Zara clothing chain rose 66.7%.

"It's an amazing company that has done great, and the gains are quite justified given its performance," said Christodoulos Chaviaras, an analyst at Barclays in London who's had an "equalweight" rating on Inditex for about a year. "Can they repeat that? It will be harder. A lot of the positive news is already reflected in the share price. Read more >>