The wealth of Russia’s richest people this year surged 21 percent, or by $51 billion, according to an index of the richest 500 billionaires tracked by Bloomberg.



The business news outlet attributed the rise in the net worth of Russia’s wealthiest individuals to a rebound in the value of “emerging-market assets from currencies to stocks and bonds” following “big losses a year earlier.”



Twenty-three Russians were listed on the richest index and only Dmitry Rybolovlyev, whose net worth is valued at $9.6 billion, saw his wealth shrink -- by $438 million this year.



Much of Rybolovlyev’s wealth stems from the sale of Russia’s largest producer of potassium fertilizers nearly a decade ago for $6.5 billion.



In neighboring Ukraine, industrialist Rinat Akhmetov was the only person listed. He saw his coffers grow by $812 million to more than $6 billion.



The United States still boasts the most billionaires with 172, whose net worth grew by $500 billion in 2019.



The richest 0.1 percent of U.S. citizens control a bigger share of their country’s economy than at any time since 1929.



Despite a divorce with his former spouse, e-commerce titan Jeff Bezos is still the world’s richest person with an estimated $116 billion.



In all, the collective wealth of the 500 richest people in the world soared 25 percent to $5.9 trillion this year.

Based on reporting by RFE/RL’s Russian Service, Bloomberg, and Fortune