The growing wealth disparity between them and the less privileged is a significant concern for people worldwide. Discover the top 10 richest people in the world today and how they built their fortune. Things get drastically better for those with money and marginally worse for this without it. Huang joins the top 10 richest despite a slight decline in Nvidia shares over the past month. That’s because the fortune of the prior No. 10, Spain’s Amancio Ortega, fell by about $7 billion over the month on weaker Inditex shares. But Ortega is close behind at No. 11, worth just $400 million less than Huang at the start of the new year.
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- Seven out of 10 of the world’s largest public companies have either a billionaire CEO or a billionaire as its principal shareholder.
- In 2004 he joined Tesla as an investor and chairman, a year after it was founded; he was later granted the cofounder title.
- Oxfam’s report comes as the world’s wealthiest people, highest powered executives, and ranking politicians meet in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum.
- But Ortega is close behind at No. 11, worth just $400 million less than Huang at the start of the new year.
- The big jump in his fortune came after SpaceX agreed to buy back insiders’ shares in a deal valuing the rocket company at $350 billion–a deal first reported by Bloomberg.
- Now the improved GPUs are leading the AI revolution around the globe, propelling the company’s market cap beyond $3 trillion in 2024.
Like his Google cofounder Larry Page, Brin’s fortune also rose in the past month as Alphabet shares rallied. The $14.7 billion rise in his fortune lifted Brin up a notch to No. 7 from No. 8 at that start of December. Page moved up one rank from last month, supported by an 11% rise Google-parent Alphabet’s shares. In late November the Department of Justice said Google should sell its Chrome browser in order to reduce the company’s dominance online. In response, Google said in a statement that such a move would hurt consumers and America’s technological leadership. Musk, who started 2024 worth an estimated $251 billion, has gained extra media attention since Donald Trump won the U.S. presidential election in November.
- The lavish spending continued to the West Coast, where in 2020, Bezos dropped a record $165 million for David Geffen‘s Los Angeles mansion, the Wall Street Journal reported.
- The $14.7 billion rise in his fortune lifted Brin up a notch to No. 7 from No. 8 at that start of December.
- The 38th annual Forbes list of the world’s billionaires found a record 2,781 billionaires with a total net wealth of $14.2 trillion.
- He is also president of the board for Groupe Arnault S.E., which is his family’s holding company and primarily an investment firm.
- “My primary home is literally a ~$50K house in Boca Chica/Starbase that I rent from SpaceX.
- Since 2020, these billionaires’ net worth has skyrocketed 114% to a total of $869 billion, after taking inflation into account, according to Oxfam’s annual inequality report, released Sunday.
The World’s Billionaires
While he no longer serves as CEO of the social media platform, his still holds broad influence — and has faced ample pushback from issues ranging from content moderation and hate speech to alienating advertisers. According to last year’s report by Henley & Partners, Mumbai and Delhi ranked among the top 50 richest cities in the world in 2024, coming in at 24th and 37th place, respectively. While one can argue about the ethics behind owning so much wealth in the world, there’s no denying that billionaires play a supersized role in shaping philanthropy, politics and the global economy. He’s also said to own a house in a French ski resort in the Alps, along with a $13 million villa in St. Tropez, and a 135-acre private retreat in the Bahamas, reportedly purchased for $137 million. The San Francisco Bay Area resident has apparently also had a long-time home in San Francisco‘s Pacific Heights neighborhood.
Net worth: $202.5 billion
The individuals on this list belong to an even more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started. Some 148 of the world’s largest corporations made nearly $1.8 trillion in profits in the 12 months leading up to June 2023, Oxfam said. Oxfam calls out the oil and gas industry, pharmaceutical companies and the financial industry for reaping higher profits in the last year or two than their average in prior years. In addition to being at the helm of Tesla, Musk is CEO of rocket ship company SpaceX. In 2022, he also purchased Twitter, which is now called X, for $44 billion.
Oxfam’s report comes as the world’s wealthiest people, highest powered executives, and ranking politicians meet in Davos, Switzerland, at the World Economic Forum. Zuckerberg cofounded Facebook—now called Meta Platforms—when he was a student at Harvard University Law Firm Accounts Receivable Management in 2004. It has grown to be the world’s largest social network, with several billion users globally. The company also owns Instagram and WhatsApp, both of which it acquired and greatly expanded. Zuckerberg, the CEO of Meta, took the company public in 2012 and still owns about 13% of it.
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According to Business Insider, the billionaire’s fortunes rose by more than $67 billion in 2024, putting him ahead of Steve Ballmer and Bill Gates. Most of his wealth comes from acquisitions such as Instagram (bought for $1 Online Accounting billion) and WhatsApp, purchased for $19 billion. Threads, a competitor to ‘X’, is the latest addition to Zuckerberg’s social network portfolio. Explore the top 10 richest people in the world, featuring influential entrepreneurs and business magnates with staggering net worth. After all, the net worth of the top 10 richest people surpasses the GDP of numerous nations. Today, their wealth is primarily concentrated in the technology, finance, and retail industries.
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- Musk founded SpaceX in 2002, runs it as the CEO, and owns an estimated 42% stake in the company.
- He owns 39% of OCI, a fertilizer company situated in Geleen, Netherlands, that was established through a demerger from Orascom Construction, his family’s original company.
- Many are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started.
- In a society and era fueled by ambition and a drive for entrepreneurship, there is a distinguished set of individuals who have achieved unimaginable fortunes.
- Zuckerberg cofounded Facebook—now called Meta Platforms—when he was a student at Harvard University in 2004.
- In 1977, Ellison founded Software Development Laboratories alongside Oates and Miner.
- This article unveils the identities of the top 10 richest people globally, shedding light on their remarkable accomplishments, entrepreneurial aptitude, and profound influence on the global economy.
At the same time unemployment levels were recovering from the surge of layoffs that accompanied the outset of the pandemic, but still saw 7.4 million Americans out of work, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. To be in the top 1% of U.S. earners, a household would need to earn about $652,000 a year. Certainly a large amount of money, and one that can virtually guarantee a comfortable life, but hardly the level of wealth enjoyed by the who are the five richest people in the world billionaires Oxfam cites. All five also founded companies which they either run as CEO or control as the largest shareholders. Billionaires themselves are also wealthier, with two-thirds adding to their worth. The top 20 on the list gained the most, adding $700 billion to their combined worth since 2023.
- So far he’s give more than $60 billion of Berkshire Hathaway stock to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and foundations run by his children and one started by his late first wife.
- He is primarly into the luxury-goods business but has a diverse business portfolio.
- He now holds the positions of chairman and Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at the company.
- The land has 2,500 feet of ocean frontage as well as a working organic farm.
- It became a top competitor among the likes of Intel, Microsoft and IBM.
- Additionally, Mumbai has overtaken Beijing as the “billionaire capital of Asia,” making it not only the fastest-growing billionaire hub but also the third-richest city in the world, as reported by Hurun.
The company filed a lawsuit against Musk to force the buyout to go through. Musk countersued the company but then reversed course and declared he was willing to buy it after all. The deal officially closed in Oct. 2022, giving him a 79% stake in the company. US billionaires, many of whom derive their wealth from the equity in the companies they lead, are $1.6 trillion richer. Over the years, Buffett has gained a reputation for his investment success and aggressive business tactics. He runs Berkshire Hathaway, a holding conglomerate that owns dozens of companies across sectors like insurance, manufacturing, utilities, transportation and retail.