Billionaire fortunes reached an all-time combined high of $10.2 trillion during the pandemic, and grew a staggering 27% between April and July

• Billionaires worldwide saw their collective fortunes hit a record high of $10.2 trillion during the coronavirus pandemic, according to a new report by UBS and PwC.
• Their combined wealth jumped 27% between April and July.
• The 2,189 billionaires worldwide — a new record — profited from a boom in technology and a rally in stock prices during lockdown.
• The report also tracked wealth growth since 2009. China came out with the largest jump in billionaire wealth, with a 1,146% increase.
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Billionaires have had a good pandemic: Their collective fortunes hit $10 trillion in July, a record high, a new report has found.

A report by UBS and PwC found that the collective wealth of the world’s billionaires grew by more than 25% between April and July. Their collective $10.2 trillion fortunes broke the previous record of $8.9 trillion, set in 2017.

While economies around the world have ground to a halt, billionaires have profited from a tech boom and a rally in stock prices.

In total, there are now 2,189 billionaires worldwide — a jump up from 2,158 in 2017, according to the study, which was called “Riding the Storm.”

The healthcare, industrials, and technology sectors saw the highest billionaire wealth gains during the pandemic, with increases of between 36% to 44%. People investing in these sectors have benefitted more than people involved in entertainment, real estate, and financial services, creating a divide among the ultra-wealthy, the report said.

"Fortunes are polarising as business innovators and disrupters deploy technology to be among the leaders of today's economic revolution," the study said, adding that COVID-19 "accelerated the divergence."

The study showed that 209 of those billionaires donated $7.2 billion between March and June 2020 to help tackle the COVID-19 pandemic. UBS and PwC said that this is the "greatest amount" billionaires have donated in such a short space of time.

The study also analyzed how the wealth of billionaires around the world has changed since 2009. Between 2009 and 2020, billionaires in China have grown their fortunes by 1,146%, the report said — the highest in the world. In comparison, British billionaire wealth rose by 168% in the same time period.