Seems like the trickle-down theory needs to be reworked. For the world's dollar millionaires will be 50 per cent richer within the next five years after experiencing an excellent year 1998. According to Economiquity, a newsletter brought out by the Centre for International Trade, Economics and Environment (CITEE), an annual world health report brought out by Merrill Lynch and Gemini consulting have revealed this finding.

Termed as high net worth individuals (HNWI), these dollar millionaires got 12 per cent richer in 1998 when their combined assets reached $ 21.6 trillion. According to Steven Beck of Gemini Consulting, ``HNWIs with well-constructed portfolios were not adversely affected by last year's turmoil and those that rode out the storm made significant gains by the year-end."