Mapping the Migration Patterns of the Global Economic Elite

Where do billionaires come from and where do they live? This data visualization maps the migration patterns of more than 3,100 billionaires using the International Database on Economic Elites and their Wealth (IDEE Wealth), a new dataset tracking the wealth and social characteristics of the global economic elite using publicly available sources. By linking residence data from Forbes with demographic data drawn from media, administrative, and other sources, the visualization illustrates migration flows for the world’s richest individuals from birthplace to most recent residence. The result describes the varied origins and contemporary spatial concentration of an elite possessing approximately 2.5 percent of all global wealth in 2024, a population of particular relevance for the study of elites, wealth inequality, and contemporary debates on tax policy.