BUSINESS BRIEFING / THE ECONOMY
TIMES STAFF AND WIRE REPORTS
The ranks of the world’s millionaires shrank at the fastest rate in 2008, with North America suffering the biggest wealth loss worldwide, according to a survey by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch & Co.
The global slump in property and equity markets last year cut the number of millionaires by 15% to 8.6 million, wiping out two years of increases, the firms said in their 13th annual World Wealth Report.
The value of the world’s millionaires’ assets slid 20% to $32.8 trillion, after a 9.4% increase the previous year, the survey said.
