NYC Dethroned as 'Billionaire Capital'

New York City was once home to the most billionaires anywhere, but Beijing has overtaken it as the Billionaire Capital of the World, the AP reports. There were 95 billionaires in NYC compared to 100 in the Chinese capital as of Jan. 15, according to Hurun, a Shanghai firm that releases annual rankings of the world's richest people; Beijing gained 32 billionaires last year, but New York gained only four. (The AP notes that other lists, such as the one created by Forbes, might come up with slightly different results depending on the methodology used.) China likely has more billionaires than reported, CNNMoney notes, since many attempt to hide their wealth from the authorities. Next up on the billionaire cities list: Moscow with 66, Hong Kong with 64, and Shanghai with 50.

Months ago, reports indicated China has more billionaires than the US, and Hurun founder Rupert Hoogewerf says that if the company's list had been put together last summer, there would have been almost 150 billionaires in China. But the Chinese stock market has fallen 40% over the past six months. Still, Hoogewerf says China's market regulators are likely to thank for the boom in billionaires, because they started allowing a number of new initial public offerings after years of holding back on such allowances. But China doesn't have a billionaire in the world's top 20; its richest man, Wang Jianlin, placed 21st on the global list. The men in the Nos. 1 and 2 spots on the list, per Mashable: Bill Gates and Warren Buffett. There are a total of 2,188 billionaires on the planet, Hurun says. (More Beijing stories.)