The term ultra-high net worth (UHNW) is reserved for people whose wealth is over US$30 million. In a 2018 report, Wealth-X, a wealth intelligence solutions provider for the world's wealthiest individuals, revealed that there are 255,810 UHNW individuals across the globe. Their cumulative wealth is estimated to be $31.5 trillion, which is approximately 13% of the world's wealth.


With a personal fortune of almost $26 billion, retail king Tadashi Yanai is the richest UHNW individual residing in Japan. Image courtesy of Wikipedia


With such wealth at their disposal, UHNW individuals can literally pick any country and city in the world to live. However, there are several factors that may influence their decision. These include:

• Tax rate

A single decimal point change could cost or gain them millions, so they understandably pay close attention to existing tax regimes and any planned changes.

• Political and economic stability

Unstable political and economic environments could affect financial regulations, currency strength, and cross-border trading, among many other things.

• Crime rate

UHNW individuals can hire or buy the best security, but at the end of the day, areas with high crime rates would increase safety risks.

Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is slated to become the first-ever rider of Elon Musk’s SpaceX deep-space rocket.Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa is slated to become the first-ever rider of Elon Musk’s SpaceX deep-space rocket. However, he is currently looking for a romantic life partner to accompany him for the trip. Really. Image courtesy of Yusaku Maezawa/Twitter


With so much uncertainty in the American and European economic and political landscapes, it's not surprising to learn that Asia has overtaken North America as the continent with the highest number of ultra-wealthy individuals. Perhaps more remarkably, two of the top ten cities of choice for UHNW individuals–Tokyo (3rd) and Osaka (10th)-are in Japan!

  1. Hong Kong: 10,010 UHNW residents

  2. New York: 8,865 UHNW residents

  3. Tokyo: 6,785 UHNW residents

  4. Los Angeles: 5,250 UHNW residents

  5. Paris: 3,950 UHNW residents

  6. London: 3,830 UHNW residents

  7. Chicago: 3,255 UHNW residents

  8. San Francisco: 2,820 UHNW residents

  9. Washington DC: 2,735 UHNW residents

  10. Osaka: 2,730 UHNW residents


By country, Japan also fared equally well, coming in second on the list with 17,915 UHNW individuals.

  1. United States: 79,595 UHNW residents

  2. Japan: 17,915 UHNW residents

  3. China: 16,875 UHNW residents

  4. Germany: 15,080 UHNW residents

  5. Canada: 10,840 UHNW residents

  6. France: 10,120 UHNW residents

  7. Hong Kong: 10,010 UHNW residents

  8. Britain: 9,370 UHNW residents

  9. Switzerland: 6,400 UHNW residents 

  10. Italy: 5,960 UHNW residents


Wealth-X forecasts that the global UHNW population will rise to over 360 thousand by 2022, with a cumulative wealth of $44.3 trillion. 

With their strong fundamentals, Tokyo and Osaka, as well as Japan as a whole, are well-poised to continue their love affair with these software magnets, merchant princes, and tycoons of industry.


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