What is a centimillionaire: the amount of money you must have to be in that group

The global gaps between those with increasingly more wealth, such as centimillionaires, and those with increasingly less are widening in an economic context characterized by low growth and rising inequality . In the case of the former group, how did the rise of these new super-rich come about, and how much money do you have to have to be in that category?

Centimillionaires are individuals who possess investable assets of at least $100 million, forming a special category within the global super-rich elite.

To fall into this group, you need investable wealth that reaches the $100 million threshold, which is the new contemporary standard for defining extreme wealth. In the late 1990s, that threshold was $30 million, but rising asset prices have pushed that level higher.

Currently, there are approximately 28,420 centimillionaires worldwide, a figure that has more than doubled in the last 20 years and increased by 12% in the last year. This number reflects the accelerated growth of this highly influential global elite, with a high concentration in countries like the United States (38% of the total), followed by China and India.

This ultra-wealthy group has an economic and political power that contrasts with the situation of broad sectors facing stagnation or loss of income. While the multimillionaires diversify their wealth across multiple jurisdictions and settle in cities with favorable tax systems, legal security, and quality of life, large segments of the population in many regions experience precariousness.

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In which cities do centimillionaires live?

According to the Henley & Partners report, the geography of ultra-high wealth is changing rapidly: emerging cities in Asia (such as Shenzhen, Beijing, and Singapore), the Middle East (Dubai, Abu Dhabi), and even some small centers in Europe and the Caribbean are seeing accelerated growth in these privileged individuals, thanks to factors such as technological innovation, attractive tax policies, and the globalization of investments.

1. New York leads the way with 384,500 millionaires, 818 centimillionaires and 66 billionaires, making it the richest city on the planet and a key hub for finance, real estate, technology and entertainment.

2. The San Francisco Bay Area, which includes Silicon Valley, is home to 342,400 millionaires and 82 billionaires, making it the region with the fastest-growing number of millionaires worldwide (98% in the last decade), driven by technological innovation and high-impact companies.

3. Los Angeles has 265,000 millionaires, 516 centimillionaires, and 29 billionaires, making it an attractive hub for sectors such as real estate, entertainment, and technology.

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These three cities not only concentrate the largest number of fortunes above $100 million, but also offer a combination of quality of life, infrastructure, economic stability, and tax benefits that attract global capital.