Billionaire

A billionaire is a person whose net worth is at least one billion units of currency, most commonly US dollars. Net worth is the sum of all assets minus liabilities, including stakes in companies, real estate, investments, cash, and valuable collectibles. Wealth can be estimated at a moment in time and can fluctuate with markets, business performance, exchange rates, and debt.

Most billionaires accumulate wealth through entrepreneurship, ownership of large companies, or inherited wealth, and many hold substantial stakes in public or private firms. Others gain wealth through finance, real estate, commodities, or media and technology ventures. The value of a billionaire's assets is often tied to the stock market and the performance of their holdings.

Wealth is tracked by organizations such as Forbes and Bloomberg, which publish annual lists and real-time indexes of the world's billionaires. Estimates are inherently imprecise and can vary between sources.

Billionaires are disproportionately concentrated in economies with advanced financial markets and large technology sectors, notably the United States and China, along with parts of Europe and Asia. Their wealth has spurred discussions about wealth concentration, taxation, and philanthropy, with many engaging in charitable giving.