The current recession started in the financial industry and, more specifically, originated in the banking sector. Many major banks either failed or were bailed out in the following weeks–one bank which was hit particularly hard by the recession was Citigroup. In fact, it was hit so hard that many people suspected it would fail. However, that doesn’t seem to be the case at all:

Citigroup delivered its strongest results since the start of the financial crisis, as the banking giant reported a first-quarter profit of $4.4 billion Monday.Earnings for the bank, one of the hardest hit institutions in the financial crisis, easily shattered Wall Street estimates. On a per share basis the company said it earned 15 cents. Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to break even for the quarter.

These are incredible earnings for a company that just one year ago was teeetering on the brink.

Each year Forbes compiles a list of billionaires from all over the world. Asia seems to have beat out the rest of the world this year by making the biggest gains.

Asian billionaires including India’s Mukesh Ambani and Hong Kong’s Li Ka-shing increased their wealth as the region’s rich expanded their fortunes at the world’s quickest pace in the past year, Forbes magazine said.Asia’s billionaires have a combined worth of $729 billion, up from $357 billion a year ago, Forbes said in an e-mailed statement. The wealth of their U.S. and European peers jumped 18 percent and 50 percent, respectively.

Apparently much of this growth came from China and India. There are now 234 billionaires from Asia, representing 23% of the total population of billionaires. The gains in Asia are incredibly, but they may be more indicative of how much the recession has hurt Europe and North America than anything else.