‘That Tiny, Stratospheric Apex That Owns Most of the World’– Exploring Geographies of the Super‐Rich

Abstract

This paper exhorts geographers to give critical attention to the super‐rich, defined as individuals with investable assets in excess of $1 million. The super‐rich currently number almost 11 million globally (2011) and have collective wealth in excess of $42 trillion. We argue that as a result of our discipline's typical, and not unjustifiable, focus on the poor and middle class, and our neglect of the super‐rich, geographers may both be overlooking potentially valuable insights to the institutions, practices, and cultural values of our society and gaining only a partial view of global capitalism. We point to prospectively useful work in areas that embrace relationships between the super‐rich, place, and mobility; links between wealth and (geo)politics; new philanthropy; and the social and environmental consequences of ‘luxury fever’. We also speculate as to some of the reasons for geographers’ apparent reluctance to engage with the super‐rich, responding to some of the critical methodological challenges associated with such work.

Looking for big ‘fry’: The motives and methods of middle-class international property investors

“…Meanwhile, the global credit crunch from 2007 and the global financial crisis have led to job losses, house price stagnation and the depreciation of pension funds for ordinary citizens, including those in the PIIGS (Portugal, Ireland, Italy, Greece and Spain), the US and the UK. In comparison, the super-rich (Hay and Muller, 2012), the so-called butler class who work for them and wealth managers (Harrington, 2016) have either been unaffected or have seen their personal fortunes and property portfolios grow significantly (Oxfam, 2016).…”

Milionerzy – nowa grupa społeczna w regionie łódzkim

“…Należy podkreślić, że w dotychczasowej literaturze geograficznej niewiele miejsca poświęcano enklawom ludzi bogatych, gdy tymczasem często podejmowane były studia dotyczące obszarów biedy i ich mieszkańców (Hay, Muller 2012). Jednymi z pierwszych, którzy zwrócili uwagę geografom na potrzebę szczegółowych badań przestrzennych grupy najbogatszych (super-rich), zdefiniowanych jako osoby z aktywami powyżej 1 mln dol., byli J.V.…”

Limited exposure: Social concealment, mobility and engagement with public space by the super-rich in London

“…The analytic focus on territories rather than on individuals allows a further examination of many of the issues detailed in the preceding section. These include first the suggestion that we are witnessing an increase in pro-active spatial dis/engagement by the rich (Hay and Muller, 2012); an increasing spatial retreat by the affluent (Atkinson, 2006); emerging forms of self-segregation and social insulation from what are perceived to be 'risky' urban environments (Graham and Marvin, 2001;Smithsimon, 2010), as well as increasing levels of physical defensiveness in the homes and neighbourhoods of the very wealthy (Atkinson and Blandy, forthcoming). These 'spatial retreat' or partial exit (Andreotti et al, 2014) hypotheses communicate widespread social anxieties focused on the ways the rich may seek-out methods of insulating themselves from the apparent risks or unpleasantness of urban life.…”

“…The number of individuals who might be considered 'super-rich' can be operationalized in a number of ways (Hay and Muller, 2012). One approach is to use the 15-year series of World Wealth Reports by Capgemini and Merrill Lynch.…”