As populists won ballots, world’s richest made $237bn

Some predicted a win for Trump would spook the markets but Tom Metcalf and Jack Witzig found the prospect of a businessman in the White House just helped the rich grow richer.

In a year when populist voters reshaped power and politics across Europe and the US, the world’s wealthiest people are ending 2016 with $237bn more than they had at the start.

Triggered by disappointing economic data from China at the beginning, the UK’s vote to leave the European Union in the middle and the election of billionaire Donald Trump at the end, the biggest fortunes on the planet whipsawed through $4.8 trillion of daily net worth gains and losses during the year, rising 5.7% to $4.4 trillion by the close of trading on Tuesday, according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.