Tel Aviv's Azrieli towers
Tel Aviv's Azrieli towersEsther Rubyan/Flash90

The Finance Ministry's lead economist published an in-depth survey of the 400 richest people in Israel, whom he defines as "ultra-rich," on their personal profile and on their revenue structure.

The average annual income of "ultra-rich" in Israel is 36.9 million shekels ($10.6 million), compared with an average annual income of 127,000 shekels ($35,000) for the entire population. The "ultra-rich" earn 290 times the national average.

The composition of the income of the"ultra-rich" is very different from that of the average Israeli. While earned income from employers and pension plans make up 93.2% of the average Israeli taxpayer's income, wages and pensions account for just 8.2% of income on average among the "ultra-rich".

The bulk of the income of the wealthiest individuals is derived from capital gains, interest and dividends distributions. Dividends that have not yet been distributed are not included in the calculation, and their addition would increase both the total income and the share of capital income from total income.

In order to belong to the exclusive club of the 400 'ultra-rich' in Israel, an individual must have an annual income of 10.5 million shekels ($2.9 million). The minimum annual income of the top 400 richest Americans is 46 times greater than the minimum for the richest Israelis at $138 million.

The average income of the "mega-rich" in Israel is also much lower than the income of their counterparts in the US - 36.8 million shekels ($10.6 million), compared with $330 million, respectively, a ratio of 1 to 33.