Billionaires on the back foot in 2022

The number of billionaires in the world dipped in 2022 due to Russia's war in Ukraine, monetary policy tightening, stock market falls and the Chinese economic slowdown, UBS said Thursday. Switzerland's biggest bank, which is among the world's largest wealth managers, said there were 2,668 dollar billionaires in March 2022 -- 87 fewer than a year earlier. It said they had a cumulative fortune of $12.7 trillion compared to $13.1 trillion the year before, after tracking their wealth. "However, the total wealth and number of billionaires is likely to have fallen further since March 2022 due to declines in asset prices," UBS said. There were 273 new billionaires in 2022, while 360 dropped out.