Investing.com - The number of billionaires increased by 15% in 2017, thanks to soaring stock prices, while Asia overtook North America as the region with the most billionaires.Those are two highlights of the fifth annual Wealth X Billionaire Census. There were 2,754 billionaires in 2017 with a total fortune of $9.205 trillion. As usual, more than half of them were worth between $1-2 billion. With 680, the United States remains the country with the most billionaires, twice as many as No. 2 China. Germany, India and Switzerland round out the top five. New York City is the No. 1 home to the world's wealthiest with 103 billionaires, followed by Hong Kong, San Francisco, Moscow and London.More than ha lf of the world's billionaires, 58.8%, have self-made fortunes, while half of them are over 70 years old.
