Billionaire Profile

Hong Kong has the second-most billionaires in the world after New York

According to the inaugural Wealth-X and UBS Billionaires Census, New York has the world's most billionaires at 96, while Hong Kong is second with 75. Moscow is not far behind at 74.

The census says the average billionaire has four homes worth nearly $20 million each, an art collection worth $14 million and is mostly likely to live in Europe.

"There's really no such thing as an 'average' billionaire, but as we look at numbers, the average billionaire has a net worth of $3 billion, cash equivalents of $545 million, an average of 2.1 children, is 63 years of age and personal holdings of $136 million," said Mykolas Rambus, chief executive of Wealth-X.

"It's also worth noting that 15 percent of billionaires have four children or more."

Are they all legitimate?

The census is the first worldwide study of billionaires, with the global billionaire population topping 2,170 this year -- "far more ever than identified or understood", Rambus said.

The study defined a billionaire as someone who has a net worth of $1 billion or more and it counted individuals rather than families. It also categorized them geographically based on where their primary businesses are held.

Rambus noted more billionaires were found in the east and projected there would be more billionaires in Asia than North America by 2018.

Beijing has 26 billionaires putting it in seventh place overall

This year's census showed Beijing was in seventh place with 26 billionaires, followed by Shanghai in 16th place with 19 billionaires, and Shenzhen in 19th with 16.

Europe has 776 billionaires with an aggregate net worth of $2 trillion, making the continent the most populous place for the ultra rich.

However when calculated by country, the United States wins hands down with the most billionaires at 515, three times more than second-place China with 157. Germany is third with 148.

Some other interesting statistics are that women make up almost 13 percent of the total billionaire population with 280 who together have an aggregate wealth of $1 trillion.

Some 71 percent say they inherited their wealth, while 17 percent were self made and 12 percent were a combination of inherited and self-made wealth.

So it's no surprise that luxury brand names -- particularly European ones -- continue to make their way to Hong Kong and China in the hopes of catching the fancies of the uber rich who are now looking for more one-of-a-kind items or unique experiences to add to their portfolios.