Year after year, the famous Forbes publication publishes ratings of the richest and most successful people our planet. The fortune of each of them exceeds one billion dollars, and the total value of the total capital of the world's billionaires this year is almost 8 trillion dollars, which is an absolute record compared to all previous years.
Moreover, in 2019, the Forbes list of billionaires of the world was replenished by as many as 233 persons - another record. Who exactly entered this “monetary” hundred and who left it is presented in our article.
Top 100 billionaires of the world Forbes
Place / Name / Age / State / Source of income / Country1 Bill Gates
62; $86 billion; Microsoft; United States2 Warren Buffett
87; $75.6 billion; Berkshire Hathaway; United States3 Jeff Bezos
53; $72.8 billion; Amazon.com United States4 Amancio Ortega
81; $71.3 billion; Zara; Spain5 Mark Zuckerberg
33; $56 billion; Facebook; United States6 Carlos SlimHelu
77; $54.5 billion; telecom; Mexico7 Larry Ellison
73; $52.2 billion; software; United States8 Charles Koch
82; $48.3 billion; diversified; United States8 David Koch
77; $48.3 billion; diversified; United States10 Michael Bloomberg
75; $47.5 billion; Bloomberg L.P.; United States11 Bernard Arnault
68; $41.5 billion; LVMH; France12 Larry Page
44; $40.7 billion; Google; United States13 Sergey Brin
44; $39.8 billion; Google; United States14 Liliane Bettencourt
95; $39.5 billion; L "Oreal; France15 S. Robson Walton
73; $34.1 billion; Walmart; United States16 Jim Walton
69; $34 billion; Walmart; United States17 Alice Walton
68; $33.8 billion; Walmart; United States18 Wang Jianlin
63; $31.3 billion; real estate; China19 Li Ka-shing
89; $31.2 billion; diversified; Hong Kong19 Sheldon Adelson
84; $30.4 billion; casinos; United States21 Steve Ballmer
61; $30 billion; Microsoft; United States22 George Paulo Lemann
78; $29.2 billion; beer; Brazil23 Jack Ma
53; $28.3 billion; e-commerce; China24 Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr.
no data; $27.2 billion; supermarkets; Germany24 David Thomson
60; $27.2 billion; media; Canada26 Jacqueline Mars
78; $27 billion; candy; United States26 John Mars
82; $27 billion; candy; United States28 Phil Knight
79; $26.2 billion; Nike; United States29 Maria Franca Fissolo
82; $25.2 billion; Nutella, chocolates; Italy29 George Soros
87; $25.2 billion; hedge funds; United States31 Ma Huateng
46; $24.9 billion; internet media; China32 Lee Shau Kee
89; $24.4 billion; real estate; Hong Kong33 Mukesh Ambani
60; $23.2 billion; petrochemicals, oil & gas; India34 Masayoshi Son
60; $21.2 billion; internet, telecom; Japan35 Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
69; $21.1 billion; Lego Denmark36 Georg Schaeffler
53; $20.7 billion; automotive; Germany37 Joseph Safra
78; $20.5 billion; banking; Brazil38 Michael Dell
52; $20.4 billion; Dell computers; United States39 Susanne Klatten
55; $20.4 billion; BMW, pharmaceuticals; Germany40 Len Blavatnik
60; $20 billion; diversified; United States40 Laurene Powell Jobs
54; $20 billion Apple, Disney; United States42 Paul Allen
64; $19.9 billion; Microsoft investments; United States43 Stefan Persson
70; $19.6 billion; H Sweden44 Theo Albrecht, Jr.
66; $18.8 billion; Aldi, Trader Joe's; Germany45 Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
62; $18.7 billion; investments; Saudi Arabia46 Leonid Mikhelson
62; $18.4 billion; gas, chemicals; Russia47 Charles Ergen
64; $18.3 billion; satellite TV United States47 Stefan Quandt
51; $18.3 billion; BMW; Germany49 James Simons
79; $18 billion; hedge funds; United States50 Leonardo Del Vecchio
82; $17.9 billion; eyeglasses; Italy51 Alexey Mordashov
52; $17.5 billion; steel, investments; Russia52 William Ding
46; $17.3 billion; online games; China53 Dieter Schwarz
78; $17 billion; retail; Germany54 Ray Dalio
68; $16.8 billion; hedge funds; United States55 Carl Icahn
81; $16.6 billion; investments; United States56 Lakshmi Mittal
67; $16.4 billion; steel; India57 Serge Dassault
92; $16.1 billion; diversified; France57 Vladimir Lisin
61; $16.1 billion; steel, transport; Russia59 Gennady Timchenko
65; $16 billion; oil, gas; Russia60 Wang Wei
47; $15.9 billion; package delivery; China60 Tadashi Yanai
68; $15.9 billion; fashion retail; Japan62 Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi
73; $15.8 billion; drinks, real estate; Thailand63 Francois Pinault
81; $15.7 billion; luxury goods; France64 Hinduja family
no data; $15.4 billion; diversified; Great Britain65 David & Simon Reuben
74; $15.3 billion; investments, real estate; Great Britain66 Donald Bren
85; $15.2 billion; real estate; United States66 Alisher Usmanov
64; $15.2 billion; steel, telecom, investments; Russia68 Lee Kun Hee
75; $15.1 billion; Samsung; South Korea69 Thomas & Raymond Kwok
no data; $15 billion; real estate; Hong Kong69 Joseph Lau
66; $15 billion; real estate; Hong Kong69 Gina Rinehart
63; $15 billion; mining; Australia72 Azim Premji
72; $14.9 billion; software services; India73 Marcel Herrmann Telles
67; $14.8 billion; beer; Brazil74 Vagit Alekperov
67; $14.5 billion; oil; Russia75 Michael Friedman
53; $14.4 billion; oil, banking, telecom; Russia75 Abigail Johnson
55; $14.4 billion; money management; United States77 Pallonji Mistry
88; $14.3 billion; construction; Ireland77 Vladimir Potanin
56; $14.3 billion; metals; Russia79 Wang Wenyin
49; $14 billion; mining, copper products; China80 Elon Musk
46; $13.9 billion; Tesla Motors; United States80 Stefano Pessina
76; $13.9 billion; drugstores; Italy82 German Larrea Mota Velasco
64; $13.8 billion; mining; Mexico82 Thomas Peterffy
73; $13.8 billion; discount brokerage; United States84 Iris Fontbona
74; $13.7 billion; mining; Chile84 Dilip Shanghvi
62; $13.7 billion; pharmaceuticals; India86 Dietrich Mateschitz
73; $13.4 billion; Red Bull; Austria87 Harold Hamm
71; $13.3 billion; oil&gas; United States87 Robin Lee
49; $13.3 billion; internet search; China89 Andrey Melnichenko
45; $13.2 billion; coal, fertilizers; Russia90 Rupert Murdoch
86; $13.1 billion; newspapers, TV networks; United States90 Heinz Hermann Thiele
76; $13.1 billion; brakes; Germany92 Steve Cohen
61; $13 billion; hedge funds; United States92 Patrick Drahi
54; $13 billion; telecom; France94 Henry Sy
93; $12.7 billion; diversified; Philippines95 Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
63; $12.6 billion; Heineken; Netherlands96 Philip Anschutz
77; $12.5 billion; investments; United States96 Ronald Perelman
74; $12.5 billion; leveraged buyouts; United States96 Hans Raising
91 $12.5 billion; packaging; Sweden96 Carlos Alberto Sicupira
69; $12.5 billion; beer; Brazil100 Klaus-Michael Kuehne
80; $12.4 billion; shipping; GermanyResults
After reading the Forbes rating of billionaires, you definitely could not help but notice how many Russian oligarchs are in this rating. Indeed, after three to five difficult years, Russian billionaires began to get rich again. In a year, their total capital increased by one hundred billion dollars.For the richest people in our country, the crisis seems to be really over. What are the reasons for such a "takeoff" - is unknown. Analysts are silent, the state is silent. But, as they say: "there is no money, but you stay there."
The American magazine Forbes traditionally announced the list of the richest people in the world following the results of the past year. The 32nd annual world ranking, published on March 6, 2018, includes 2,208 people from 72 countries the globe, each of which owns a fortune of at least $ 1,000,000,000. At the same time, the total amount of income of billionaires from all over the planet Earth increased by 18% compared to last year and amounted to 9.1 trillion dollars. We suggest that you familiarize yourself with the list of this year and the types of activities to which billionaires owe their capital.
The top ten absolute world leaders in terms of the size of the earned fortune are businessmen, developers software, representatives of the fashion industry, publishing, the media and the mobile communications market.
The first ten people on the list of the richest people in the world according to Forbes versions for 2018:
- Jeff Bezos ($112 billion) topped the 2018 Forbes Billionaire List for the first time and became the richest person in the world. The rapid rise in the price of shares of his offspring Amazon by 59% allowed the 53-year-old Bezos to add $ 39,200,000,000 to his own fortune compared to last year.
Interesting! Jeff Bezos managed not only to lead the top richest people in the world in 2018, but also to become the first billionaire whose fortune is estimated at 12 figures.
- Bill Gates ($90 billion) ranks 2nd on the Forbes list. Despite the fact that Microsoft brought him fame and the bulk of his fortune, today Gates' share in the company does not exceed 3%. Now he earns mainly from the engineering company, investment fund and a number of other sources.
- Warren Buffett ($84 billion) is the 3rd richest person in 2018. Income to the 87-year-old billionaire brings throughout his life investment holding Berkshire Hathaway, which owns various stakes in more than 60 companies.
- Bernard Arnault ($72 billion) was able to get to 4th place in the Forbes top and increase his fortune by $30,500,000,000 (whereas in 2017 he was only in the second ten). The 69-year-old Frenchman is the sole owner of the LVMH Moët Hennessy holding, which represents the luxury brands Louis Vuitton, Sephora, Christian Dior (since 2017), etc.
- Amancio Ortega ($70 billion), founder of the Inditex holding, which includes well-known brands Zara, Bershka, Massimo Dutti and others, is the 6th billionaire in the world. The 80-year-old Spaniard also buys property in prestigious locations in Europe and America and receives solid dividends from its resale or rental.
- Carlos Slim Elu ($67.1 billion) is number seven on the Forbes World Billionaire List. The Mexican is the owner mobile operator America Movil, as well as co-owner of the New York Times newspaper, a number of real estate and mining companies.
- Charles Koch ($60 billion) is on the eighth line of the 2018 Forbes top. Together with his brother, he is the owner of the Koch Industries holding. The history of the latter began in 1940, when their father founded an oil refinery.
- David Koch ($60 billion) is the second co-owner of Koch Industries, who, thanks to the decision to buy out the Times publishing house, managed to add $11,700,000,000 to his capital and take the 9th line in the rating of world billionaires.
- Larry Ellison ($58.5 billion) - American from the 10th line of the Forbes list is the founder of the Oracle IT company, which has recently been developing cloud services. Allison also actively invests in her favorite pastime, sailing, and does not spare money for charitable causes.
The richest people in Russia in 2018
Among the richest people in the world in the Forbes 2018 list, there are 102 people from Russia, whose total fortune was estimated at $410,800,000,000. Most of them made their fortune in oil and gas industry or other commodity markets. So, the ten most wealthy representatives of the Forbes list from Russia:
- Vladimir Lisin ($19.1 billion) - is in 2018 the richest person in Russia and is on the 57th line of the Forbes global rating. Lisin is the chairman and majority shareholder of NLMK (steel sector) and Universal Cargo Logistics Holding.
On a note! Vladimir Lisin is Vice President of international organization sports shooting. It was thanks to him that the largest rifle complex in Europe, Lisya Nora, appeared in the Moscow region.
- Alexey Mordashov ($18.7 billion) is second (as last time) among the richest Russians and 60th in the world top. The capital of the co-owner of Severstal, tour operator TUI and gold mining company Nord Gold N.V increased by $1,200,000,000.
- Leonid Mikhelson ($18 billion) - last year's winner Russian rating Forbes in 2018 dropped to 3rd place (64th place in the Forbes top). The fortune of the co-owner of the chemical holding "Sibur" and the largest private gas company "Novatek" decreased by $400,000,000.
- Vladimir Potanin ($15.9 billion) - ranks 6th and 83rd in the Forbes lists of Russia and the world, respectively. Owning shares in Norilsk Nickel, the Petrovax Pharm concern, and the most famous ski resort in Russia, Rosa Khutor, brought Potanin an additional $1,600,000,000.
- Andrey Melnichenko ($15.5 billion) is the main owner of EuroChem, SGK (energy) and SUEK (coal mining) in 2018 ranked 7th in Russia and 88th in the international list of billionaires according to Forbes 2018 .
- Mikhail Fridman ($15.1 billion) – $700,000,000 increase in own finances allowed the founder of Alfa-Bank, co-owner of Alfa Group and LetterOne to be on the 8th line of the Forbes list in 2018.
- Viktor Vekselberg ($14.4 billion) - ranks 9th among the richest people in Russia (89th in the world). The lion's share of his income is now brought to him by the Suzler company from Switzerland (manufacturers of pumping equipment). In addition to her, Vekselberg also receives income from the activities of the Renova Group, of which he is the founder.
Interesting! The private collection of Viktor Vekselberg contains the most famous works of art, including 9 Faberge eggs, for which he paid the Forbes family about $ 100,000,000.
- Alisher Usmanov ($12.5 billion) - closes the top 10 richest people in Russia according to Forbes 2018 and ranks 118 in the world top. Having started a business with the production of polyethylene products during the Soviet era, today Usmanov is a co-owner of the Metalloinvest holding, Megafon, Mail.ru Group, FC Arsenal and a stake in Xiaomi.
It's always interesting to know rich people and the data must be up to date. The article examines in detail each member of the list, pointing to the sources of the state of each of them, describes the changes in it compared to previous years. The list is current as of 2012. The top three include Carlos Slim Elu, who holds the leading position for the second year in a row, as well as the unchanging Bill Gates, the creator of the unforgettable Microsoft, and the Oracle of Omaha, a successful investor and the most elderly of the rating participants, but nevertheless, not losing their positions , Warren Buffett. So let's go.
Carlos Slim Helu - 1st place, $74 billion
1st place - Carlos Slim Helu \ Carlos Slim Helú - $ 74 billion.
In 2012, Carlos is already 71 years old, although judging by his photo, he looks pretty good. This is not surprising, because according to the latest estimates, his fortune is estimated at more than 74 (seventy-four) billion dollars. With so many dollars, taking care of your appearance is a trifling matter. In 2012, Carlos widened the gap between him and Gates by more than $18 billion. But it wasn't until 2010 that Carlos was able to "overthrow" Bill Gates from his pedestal, thanks to a massive 27% increase in American Mobile shares, which helped him a lot in this tremendous leap forward - after all, he owns 67 percent of this company. The place of business of the entrepreneur is Mexico. He himself is a citizen of this country, but has Arab roots, since his parents are from Lebanon. Occupation - telecommunications, owns most of the TV channels in Mexico, as well as shares in several large Mexican and American companies.
Bill Gates \ Bill Gates - 2nd place, $ 53 billion.
2nd place - William Henry Gates III \ William Henry Gates III - $ 67 billion.
In other words, Bill Gates. Old Bill for 12 years was the richest man in the world. In the photo, as always, he is wearing glasses - it looks like his eyesight is pretty bad due to prolonged work at the computer. But for a 54-year-old man, it also looks pretty good. The total fortune is estimated at 67 (fifty-three) billion. The occupation of Bill Gates, I think, is known, if not to everyone, then to many.
He is a co-founder of Microsoft and is also its non-executive chairman of the board of directors. Holding the palm among richest people in the world, Bill could not stay on the podium in 2008, losing it to Warren Buffett, after which, apparently realizing that something needed to be done, in 2009 he again became the first. But Gates' joy lasted exactly one year, after which in 2010 the aforementioned Carlos Slim Elu moved him to an honorable second place, where Bill remains to this day.
3rd place - Amancio Ortega \ Amancio Ortega - $ 57 billion.
Amancio Ortega \\ Amancio Ortega - 7th place, $ 31 billion
On the this year(2014) his net worth is estimated at $57 billion. Owns the largest Spanish clothing brand, Zara, whose revenue is steadily growing. One of the main reasons for the company's success is its course, the essence of which is the production, distribution and sale of clothes, without the help of retailers (intermediaries). This allows you to reduce the price of popular branded clothing by almost 25 percent! The network of stores is located all over the world, the distinctive quality of the company is its quick response to fashion trends in the world.
Warren Buffett \ Warren Buffett - 4th place, $ 53 billion.
4th place - Warren Edward Buffett \ Warren Edward Buffett - $ 44 billion.
Who now does not know America's largest investor -? In 2008, he took the honorable first place in ranking of the richest people in the world, but then, unfortunately, he nevertheless lost ground, losing first to Gates, and then to Carlos El. The state is estimated at 44 billion US dollars. Such a fortune was obtained, as a result of successful investments of profits, in the most diverse branches of production in the United States. Because of Buffett's insanely rapid growth in fortune, he was nicknamed the "Oracle of Omaha" (Buffett's hometown, Nebraska), referring to his amazing ability to anticipate the success or failure of an investment. The average holding period for shares is 10 years, which indicates the long-term investment position adopted.Lawrence Joseph Ellison - 5th place, $ 39.5 billion
5th place - Lawrence Joseph Ellison \ Lawrence Joseph Ellison - $ 43 billion.
Better known as Larry Ellison. His fortune is estimated at a whopping $43 billion. Founder and co-owner of the well-known software company Oracle.
He is also the largest investor in NetSuite Inc. Develops its capital by investing in various companies, has achieved considerable results, judging by the increase in its position in the rankings this year. In 1990, Oracle experienced some difficulties, in connection with which many employees of the company were laid off, and branches around the world were reduced. However, Larry proved to be a successful leader, and the company was able to regain its position.
Lakshmi Niwas Mittal \ Lakshmi Niwas Mittal - 6th place, $ 31.1 billion.
6th place - Lakshmi Niwas Mittal \ Lakshmi Niwas Mittal $ 31 billion.
The total fortune is estimated at 31.1 (thirty one and one) billion dollars. Lakshmi used to think of himself as the "Bill Gates of India", probably referring to his desire for rapid development, charity and innovation. Metal brought such capital to Mittal. He owns the world's largest steel company Arcelor Mittal, which has subsidiaries in all regions of the world. For example, in Ukraine, Mittal bought the Kryvorizhstal plant, turning it into Arcelor Mittal Krivoy Rog. He negotiated the purchase in the autumn of 2005, directly with Yulia Tymoshenko, who was then the prime minister of Ukraine.
Eike Batista \ Eike Batista - 8th place, $ 30 billion.
In dealing with people, he is more inclined towards personal contacts than official ones. We are tolerant and can find compromises in any business, because, quote “I easily compromise, just like all the inhabitants of India do every day, who can find a common language despite the presence of 300 dialects and ethnic groups”
7th place - Eike Batista \ Eike Batista - $ 30 billion.
Eighth place in the ranking of Eyck took thanks to his fortune of $ 30 billion, which he earned by being engaged in the mining and timber industry in Brazil. The country is his native, and, unlike many billionaires from the list of those living in England or the United States, Batista remained faithful to his homeland, which cannot but please the Brazilian tax authorities. He started with, later included in the development of all other types of iron ores.
Noted in
- energy sector,
- coal mining,
- gas,
- diamonds.
51 years old, has two children, divorced, was married to a girl from the cover of Playboy magazine.
8th place - Bernard Arnault \ Bernard Arnault - $ 29 billion.
Bernard Arnault - 4th place, $41bn
The largest French businessman, whose fortune is estimated at 29 billion dollars. Manages and owns 47% of the shares of LVMH, which occupies a leading (14% of the world market) position in sales of luxury goods.
owns brands such as
- louis vuitton,
- givenchy,
- Guerlain,
- kenzo,
- Chaumet,
- Moët & Chandon,
- Hennessy
- TAG Heuer and others
In 1999, there was an attempt to buy the Gucci Group for a record $6.15 billion. Unfortunately the deal fell through. In March 2011, the takeover of the Italian luxury goods manufacturer Bulgari was announced. Under the terms of the deal, 50.4% of Bulgari was exchanged for 3% of the shares of LVMH itself. The approximate value of the transaction is 3.7 billion euros.
Mukesh Ambani \ Mukesh Ambani - 9th place, $ 27 billion.
9th place - Mukesh Ambani \ Mukesh Ambani $ 27 billion.
The fortune is estimated at 27 (twenty-seven) billion dollars. This fortune was achieved through the company Reliance Industries, which is engaged in the extraction and sale of oil. The company inherited from his father with his brother, later the brothers quarreled and divided the company. But even now he is richer how
Christy Walton \ Christy Walton - 10th place, $ 28.5 billion
10th place - Christy Walton \ Christy Walton & family - 28.2 billion.
Christie is the widow of Jim Walton, the paramount heir to the global retail corporation Wal-Mart. Due to her husband's death in a plane crash in 2005, the widow, who originally inherited $25 billion, became America's richest woman.
By 2014, her fortune had increased to 28.2 billion dollars, which allowed her to take 10th place in the ranking of the world's billionaires. Wal-Mart, founded in 1970, is the largest retail network shops in the world. With a total of over 6,500 stores worldwide, it employs almost 2 million employees and serves up to 180 million customers worldwide in a work week.
Pivot table with data for 2013 - 2014
| # in 2014 | # in 2013 | Name | Age (at time of publication) | Status, billion $ | State change, billion $ | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 01 | 1 | Carlos Slim Elu | 73 | 73.0▲ | +4,0 | Mexico Mexico |
| 02↔ | 2 | Bill Gates | 57 | 67.0▲ | +6,0 | USA USA |
| 03 | 5 | Amancio Ortega | 76 | 57.0▲ | +19,5 | Spain Spain |
| 04↓ | 3 | Warren Buffett | 82 | 44.0▲ | +9,5 | USA USA |
| 05 | 6 | Lawrence Allison | 68 | 43.0▲ | +7,0 | USA USA |
| 06 | 12 | Lakshmi Nivas Mittal | 55 | 31.0▲ | +9,0 | |
| 07 | 13 | Eik Batista | 55 | 30.0▲ | +9,0 | Brazil |
| 08↓ | 09 | Bernard Arnault | 65 | 29.0▼ | -12,0 | France |
| 09 | 15 | Mukesh Ambani | 90 | 27.0▲ | +6,0 | France France |
| 10↓ | 4 | Christy Walton | 58 | 28.2▼ | -12,0 | USA |
Video from the Discovery channel - about the rich people of the planet
The richest people on the planet - who are they? Those who, in fact, turn the "economy" of a country. These are the people in whose hands most of all the money on Earth is concentrated. And, as a rule, these are not even politicians, but businessmen and entrepreneurs. After all, only doing your own business, working for yourself, you can receive such amounts ...
The whole world knows about such people. They are trying to imitate, the stories of their lives and autobiographies are read by budding entrepreneurs, their personalities and characters are studied by psychologists, they are equal and take an example from them. And, of course, the ranking of the richest people in the world is conducted annually.
If we look into the American Forbes magazine, we will see list of richest people in the world. Carlos Slim Elu has been considered the richest man in the world since 2010. He owns the TelMex Corporation (Telefonos de Mexico). Soon he will be 73 years old.
Video about the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim Elu:
His fortune in 2010 was estimated at 54 billion US dollars. In 2011, his fortune is already estimated at 74,000,000,000 dollars or ≈ 2,220,000,000,000 (two trillion, two hundred and twenty million) rubles, and will certainly grow.
Second richest person in the world occupied by the head of Microsoft IT Corporation (Microsoft) - Bill Gates, who until 2008 confidently remained in first place in the Forbes lists. His fortune was estimated at 53,000,000,000 US dollars or ≈ 1,590,000,000,000 (trillion five hundred ninety million) rubles.
For a long time, a well-known businessman remained the most highly profitable specialist and the richest man with a "gold" medal. Bill Gates. Now this man is 53 years old, and, oddly enough, his property consists of only 8.7% of the shares of the Microsoft company he created.
Video about the richest man in the world, Bill Gates:
As for Bill's life story, as a child he did not like to study, he often skipped classes, and constantly violated discipline. Parents were even forced to take the boy to see a psychiatrist - he behaved so unbearably. Nothing but mathematics was given to him. And Bill's main passion was computers. Here he could work for hours. So was his friend Pauline Alain. Friends once got so carried away that they managed to hack the system. For which they were immediately punished. Bill Gates, in particular, was suspended from the computer for the entire summer.
Bill could not graduate from the university, because. was expelled from the second course. However, the young man did not despair. Together with his friend Polen, Bill founded Microsoft, which after a while became famous all over the world. And in 2007, Harvard University gave him a diploma of higher education.
Constantly competing with Bill are the other two richest people in the world - Warrent Buffett and Carlos Slim.
Third richest person on the planet- Warren Buffett. He is 79 and is the head of investment firm Berkshire Hatdaway. His capital is estimated at 47,000,000,000 dollars or ≈ 1,410,000,000,000 (trillion four hundred and ten million) rubles.
Video about the richest man in the world Warren Buffett:
Russia occupies only 32nd place in this list, and it was taken by Vladimir Lisin, who is engaged in metallurgy and owns NLMK, officially the state of his capital is 15,800,000,000 dollars or ≈ 474,000,000,000 (four hundred and seventy-four billion) rubles.
richest people 2012
*According to Forbes
| Rating | Billionaire's name | Age | State | Business area | Country of Residence |
| 1 | Carlos Slim Elu |
72 years old | $ 69 000 000 000 | Communications, etc. | Mexico |
| 2 | Bill Gates |
56 years old | $ 61 000 000 000 | IT, Microsoft | USA |
| 3 | Warren Buffett |
81 years old | $ 50 000 000 000 | Investments | USA |
| 4 | Bernard Arnault |
63 years old | $ 41 000 000 000 | LVMH (goods for the rich) | France |
| 5 | Amancio Ortega |
75 years old | $ 37 500 000 000 | Zara (clothing brand) | Spain |
| 6 | Larry Ellison |
67 years old | $ 36 000 000 000 | IT, Oracle | USA |
| 7 | Eike Batista |
55 years | $ 30 000 000 000 | Mining natural resources | Brazil |
| 8 | Stefan Persson |
64 years old | $ 26 000 000 000 | Brand H&M | Sweden |
| 9 | Li Ka-shing |
83 years old | $ 25 500 000 000 | Finance | China |
| 10 | Karl Albrecht |
92 years old | $ 25 400 000 000 | Aldi | Germany |
Probably, many of you are wondering how it was possible to achieve such incredible success? Let's try to briefly tell the story of someone who has been confidently ranked first in the Forbes lists for 3 years, how the richest man in the world- about Carlos Slim Elu.
Carlos Slim Elu was born on January 28, 1940 in Mexico City. In 1911, his father, Don Julian Slim, founded the La Estrellade Oriente company, which sold groceries. He was a very talented person, and soon family affairs took off. Don Julian Slim from early childhood instilled in his offspring a love of work and the economy. Carlos Slim Elu was a very bright and intelligent boy, and at the age of twelve he was already able to open an account to buy shares in Banco Nacional de Mexico.
In 1965, Carlos graduated from the university with a degree in engineering and began building his future empire, Grupo Carso. After 15 years, he was already a well-known and respected entrepreneur in his circles. His business developed successfully, he bought several more enterprises and invested in them.
In 1982, there was a major financial crisis in Mexico, where many entrepreneurs went bankrupt, thereby giving way to Carlos Slim El. We can say that thanks to this crisis, Carlos rose so high. He bought a lot of shares in various failing companies, almost for next to nothing, and did not lose. In the early 1990s, the Carso Group already included mining, metallurgical and chemical industries, as well as banking, trade and hotel business.
Later, in 1990, Carlos Slim Helu bought out the telecommunications company Telmex (Telefonos de Mexico), which was considered the largest monopoly in the country at that time. Until now, there are various disputes and opinions that he received it by fraud, paying 400 million instead of 12 billion. But these conversations are just chatter, because we will probably never know the truth.
After this large-scale transaction in 2000 to 2007, a successful entrepreneur enters a new, international level. He's buying up telecommunications companies all over the world. Latin America, opens its business in Brazil, Peru, Honduras, Argentina, Colombia, El Salvador. Carlos also acquired small assets in Citibank and The New York Times.
Famous quotes from the richest man in the world, Carlos Slim Elu:
1. "Wealth is a garden where you need to share the fruits, but not the trees."
2. “Many people want to change the world for the better for their children. I am trying to change my children for the better so that they serve the world.”
Speaking of children, Carlos Slim Elu has six of them and they all help his father in his business. The eldest chairs the board of directors of Carso Group.
Besides that Carlos is the richest man in the world, he is also a good-natured man: a businessman spends huge amounts of money on education and social assistance, which, perhaps, will help to "get up off his knees" in Latin America.
The richest people in the world: video
An Indian is one step below. Mukesh Ambani, businessman ($29 billion), then - his compatriot Lakshmi Mittal, who immigrated to London (28.8 billion US dollars).
To the list of the richest people in the world can be attributed to the owner of Oracle Lawrence Ellison(US$28 billion) and Bernard Arnault, which manages the brands "Celine", "Berluti", "Guerlain", "Kenzo", "Loewe", "Christian Lacroix" and the world famous "Givenchy" (Bernard Arnault's fortune is 27.6 billion US dollars).
An interesting fact is that Moscow overtakes New York in terms of the number of billionaires living in it. In general, for this indicator at the country level, the United States of America leads the way, followed by Germany in second place and the Russian Federation in third place.
Ekaterina Yakovleva for www.site
Billionaire best friends Bill Gates and Warren Buffett are the two richest people in the world.
The richest 30 people in the world control a huge part of the global economy: $1.23 trillion - more than the annual GDP of Spain, Mexico or Turkey.
This is in line with the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, which recently relaunched and expanded online to include 500 billionaires worldwide. The ranking is updated daily to provide the latest data on the richest men and women in the world.
And so the 30 richest people in the world:
30. Ma Huateng 
net worth: $22.5 billion USA
Age: 45
Country: China
Industry: Technology
How He Got Rich: Tencent Holdings
Software engineer Ma Huateng (aka Pony Ma) founded China's largest Internet portal, Tencent Holdings, in 1998. He was 26 years old. Ma has a number of successful and widely used platforms, including QQ, its instant messaging service, which is one of the top 10 sites in the world; mobile text service (WeChat) with over 800 million users; mobile commerce product (WeChat Wallet); and an online gaming community (Tencent Games), the largest in China.
Ma's wealth increased by $4.7 billion last year.
29. Phil Knight 
Net Worth: US$25 billion
Age: 78
Country: USA
How He Got Rich: Nike
He worked as an accountant for the Blue Ribbon Sports footwear company. Then he launched his own brand of sports shoes Nike.
Nike's success has been fueled by collaborations with famous athletes, from runner Steve Prefontaine in 1973 to one of the most successful shoe marketers of all time, Michael Jordan, whom Nike signed to a five-year contract in 1984 worth $500,000 a year. Today, the NBA's biggest star is still affiliated with Nike, and LeBron James signed a lifetime contract with the brand in 2015, reportedly worth over $1 billion.
28. George Soros 
Net worth: $25.2 billion USA
Age: 86
Country: USA
Industry: Hedge funds
How He Got Rich: Managing the Soros Foundation
Born in Budapest, George Soros survived the Nazi occupation of Hungary during World War II before moving to the UK and then the US. He is called "the man who broke the Bank of England", he is best known for the hedge fund, which he created in 1973 under the management of the Soros Fund Management company. In 1992, he cut the British pound, a risky move, ended up making $1 billion in one day and solidified Soros's place in the financial world. The Quantum Fund is also generating over 30% annual returns under Soros' leadership, making it one of the most successful hedge funds of all time.
Today, Soros remains chairman of the board of Soros Fund Management, which manages more than $25 billion in assets, including stakes in famous companies like Amazon, Facebook and Netflix. He is also chairman of Open Society, an organization founded in 1979 that functions as a network of foundations and partners around the world that promotes the values of an open society and human rights.
Per Last year Soros' wealth was reduced by $800 million.
27. Mukesh Ambani 
Net worth: $26.3 billion USA
Age: 59
Country: India
Industry: Petrochemicals, oil and gas
Source of wealth: Inheritance; Industries
Mukesh Ambani became chairman of Reliance Industries when his father, the founder of the company, passed away in 2002. A huge industrial conglomerate in the fields of energy, petrochemicals, textiles, natural resources, retail and, more recently, telecommunications.
Ambani is the richest man in India and owns a 27-storey Mumbai mansion worth $1 billion.
26. Wang Wei
(photo not available)
Net worth: $26.5 billion USA
Age: 46
Country: China
Industry: Transport
How He Got Rich: SF Holding
Wang Wei founded China's largest package delivery company, SF Express. He recently debuted on stock exchange, and for the first time hit the list of the richest people. Over the past year, his fortune has increased by almost $22.7 billion. USA.
According to Bloomberg, the son of a Russian translator for the People's Liberation Army Air Force, Wang, grew up in Hong Kong before returning to his birthplace in China in the 1990s to start a delivery service. At the time, his business was considered part of the "black shipping" market, and he risked being caught and fined by the country's postal officers.
25. Steve Ballmer 
Net Worth: US$27 billion
Age: 60
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
Source of wealth: ; Microsoft
Steve Ballmer left Stanford Business School in 1980 to join Harvard friend Bill Gates at Microsoft as the company's first business manager, earning a $50,000 salary and a stake in the company. Ballmer has served as vice president of marketing, vice president of systems software, and executive vice president of sales and support, and was often referred to as the "numbers guy".
He became CEO company in 2000 after Gates stepped down, and he remained in charge of the software giant until Satya Nadella replaced him in 2014. Under Microsoft's management, the company's revenue grew by 294% and profit by 181% - although its market share was surpassed by Google and Apple in the same period.
After he took over as CEO, Ballmer fulfilled his dream of owning an NBA franchise by paying $2 billion in a deal to buy the Los Angeles Clippers, now his main venture.
Last year equity Ballmer increased by $4.8 billion.
24. Sheldon Adelson 
Net Worth: US$28 billion
Age: 83
Country: USA
Industry: Real estate
How He Got Rich: Las Vegas Casinos
"King of Las Vegas" hit the jackpot for the first time in 1995, when he was 61 years old, and also at the Computer Dealers' Exhibition (COMDEX), one of the largest exhibitions in Las Vegas. This year, Adelson sold the company to the Japanese Softbank for $860 million and used the money to finance the purchase of Sands Casino.He quickly demolished it and built the Venetian Casino Resort and Sands Expo convention center in its place.After further expansion, he took his gaming conglomerate, Las Vegas Sands, open in 2004 .
Adelson, a former reporter and mortgage broker and son of Ukrainian-Jewish immigrants, hit hard during the financial crisis in 2008, reportedly lost $25 billion and needed to boost his company's balance sheet with $1 billion in cash. Even though the casino had a tough 2015 - shares fell 25% during the year - its fortunes have recovered from the dark days of 2008. Net worth rose by $3.2 billion last year. He still runs the casino and is the CEO of China Sands. subsidiary, which opened its fifth casino in Macau last year.
In late 2015, he bought Nevada's largest newspaper for $140 million.
23. Jorge Lehmann 
Net worth: $28.8 billion USA
Age: 76
Country: Brazil
How He Got Rich: 3G Capital
After being called "the most interesting billionaire in the world" by Bloomberg, Jorge Lehmann was previously a journalist and professional tennis champion before moving into finance in 1971 with the purchase of a small Brazilian brokerage firm. Later he continued the joint investment company 3G Capital in 2004, which made Lehmann best known for the Warren Buffett deals.
In late 2014, Lehmann created a fast food giant with Buffett's Berkshire Hathaway by bringing together Burger King with Canadian brand Tim Horton in a series of deals worth over $11 billion. In 2015, 3G and Berkshire Hathaway teamed up again to invest $10 billion in the Kraft and Heinz mega-germ, which created the fifth largest food and beverage company in the world.
In November 2015, 3G's Anheuser-Busch InBev made a mammoth $108 billion deal to take over SABMiller, becoming the world's most dominant beer maker. Earlier this year, he initiated a takeover deal - Unilever - a deal that was worth about $250 billion.
Over the past year, his net worth has increased by $2.9 billion. USA.
22. Li Ka-shing 
Net worth: $30.6 billion USA
Age: 88
Country: Hong Kong
Industry: Diversified investments
How He Got Rich: CK Hutchison Holdings
Despite humble beginnings, business tycoon Li Ka-shing became the richest man in Hong Kong. After his father died of tuberculosis, Li dropped out of school at 16 to support his family by working in a plastic flower factory. Six years later, he opened his own factory, the predecessor of which is today known as CK Hutchison Holdings, a sprawling trading empire with interests in real estate, manufacturing, energy, telecommunications and technology.
Savvy investor Lee and his venture fund Horizon Ventures have backed companies like Facebook, Skype, Spotify and the launch of Hampton Creek egg replacement products.
Lee's net worth is up $4.1 billion. USA for the last year.
21. Wang Jianlin 
Net worth: $31.6 billion USA
Age: 62
Country: China
Industry: Real estate
How He Got Rich: Dalian Wanda Group
Real estate tycoon Wang Jianlin, who served in the Chinese military from 1970 to 1986, controls dozens of sectors and hundreds of companies before going into business. Some of Wang's largest investments abroad, including high-end property development projects in Sydney and Madrid. Since this time last year, his wealth has grown by $4.8 billion.
From 2014 to 2015, his net worth more than doubled from $13.2 billion to $30 billion.
19 and 20 John and Jacqueline Mars 
John Mars owns the Mars candy world along with siblings Forrest and Jacqueline.
Net worth: $32.4 billion USA each
Age: 77 and 81
Country: USA
Industry: Candy
Source of wealth: Inheritance; Mars Inc.
Siblings Jacqueline and John Mars inherited a stake in the iconic Candymaker Mars Inc. when their father, Forrest Sr., died in 1999.
In 2008, Mars expanded, now producing not only candy, but also chewing gum, pet food.
Per last year their combined net worth increased by $2.6 billion.
18. Alice Walton 
Net worth: $34 billion USA
Age: 67
Country: USA
Industry: retail
The daughter of the late Walmart founder Sam Walton, Alice Walton is a major figure in the company, making her the richest woman on earth. Although she never took an active part in the management of the supermarket.
Instead of spending time at Walmart, Walton became a patron of the arts. In 2011, she opened the $50 million Crystal Bridge Museum in Arkansas, which displays a number of her famous paintings.
In 2015, Walton donated 3.7 million of his Walmart shares to non-profit organization family and put her Texas ranches—one a working horse ranch and another a luxury vacation spot—on the market for a total of $48 million.
Over the past year, her net worth has grown by $2.3 billion.
17. Jim Walton 
Net worth: $35.1 billion USA
Age: 68
Country: USA
Industry: retail
Source of wealth: Inheritance; walmart
James "Jim" Walton's parents, Helen and Sam Walton, acquired a majority stake in Arkansas Bank in Bentonville a year before the first Walmart store opened in Rogers, Arkansas in 1962, when Jim was only 14 years old. Within five years, the family owned 24 retail stores. In 1975, after working in Walmart's real estate department for several years, Jim joined his parent bank, later renamed Arvest Bank Group. He is now Chairman and CEO regional bank community, which has $15 billion in assets. Over the past year, Walton has grown by $2.7 billion.
16. Rob Walton 
Net worth: $35.4 billion USA
Age: 72
Country: USA
Industry: retail
Source of wealth: Inheritance; walmart
Samuel Robson "Rob" Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. In 1969, he began working for the iconic trading giant, holding positions from senior vice president to chairman general counsel, from which he stepped down as of June 2015 after 23 years. His son-in-law succeeded him.
On New Year's Eve, Walton and his brother donated 1.5 million shares to charity, while their sister Alice gave away 3.7 million shares, totaling $407 million. This is an incredible amount!
Last year, his wealth increased by $3.3 billion.
15. Jack Ma 
Net worth: $35.7 billion USA
Age: 52
Country: China
Industry: Technology
How He Got Rich: Alibaba
China's richest man, Alibaba founder and executive chairman Jack Ma, reportedly started China's first internet company in 1988: China Yellowpages. He handed over control of the company to a state-owned telecommunications company in 1996 and launched Alibaba three years later for just $60,000. Fifteen years after its creation, the company became the largest in the world.
But the company's shares fell 22% in 2015, most likely due to a slowdown in the Chinese economy and problems with counterfeiters using the company's platform. Ma didn't care. He acknowledged that 2016 will be a difficult year for the Chinese economy, but remained confident in Alibaba's long-term success.
Over the past year, Ma's wealth has increased by $8.4 billion. USA.
14. Liliana Bettencourt 
Net worth: $36.8 billion USA
Age: 94
Country: France
Industry: Cosmetics
Source of wealth: Inheritance; Group L "Oreal
The heiress of the L "Oreal cosmetics fortune and the company's largest shareholder, Liliane Betancourt is the richest woman in the world, with a net worth of $36.8 billion, an increase of $3 billion last year alone. She no longer has a hand in business operations, but L" Oreal and the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation, founded by her and her late husband, continue to thrive. She is an art collector who owns works by Picasso, Matisse and Munch.
In recent years, Bettencourt was forced to sue in May 2015 when eight people, including trusted friends and financial advisors, were convicted of using the capital of the heiress.
In late 2015, charges were filed against her former butler and five journalists for recording meetings with the billionaire and thus violating her right to immunity. privacy. The butler, Pascal Bonnefoy, claimed to have taken the notes to show Betancourt's fragile condition - all six were acquitted in January 2016.
13. Bernard Arnault 
Net worth: US$40 billion
Age: 67
Country: France
Industry: Luxury goods
How He Got Rich: LVMH
Bernard Arnault's LVMH has 70 luxury brands from Louis Vuitton to Hennessy to Dom Perignon, controlled by the family company Groupe Arnault. By the 1980s and 90s, Arnault, having started working as a civil engineer, took over the family business and proceeded to buy the high-end fashion house Christian Dior, resurrecting it from the brink of bankruptcy. Like most LVMH brands today, Dior is thriving.
Arno's wealth grew by $6.8 billion last year. USA.
12. Sergey Brin 
Net worth: $41.6 billion USA
Age: 43
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
Source of wealth: Google
Along with co-founder Larry Page, Sergey Brin helped orchestrate Google's massive restructuring that the company announced in 2015. The move brought Google under the umbrella of Alphabet, a holding company with Brin as president and Page as CEO. Other Google ventures such as Nest and Google X are separate companies also under Alphabet.
The restructuring allowed Brin to focus on exploring new projects and moonshot ideas. With top-notch talent and an abundance of resources, Alphabet has already made automatic homes and self-driving cars a reality.
Brin, who emigrated from Moscow to the US as a child, was linked to Page in 1995 at Stanford, where they were each doing PhDs. Three years later, they founded Google, now one of the most powerful companies on the planet.
Over the past year, Brin's wealth has increased by $4.1 billion.
11. Larry Page 
Net worth: $42.5 billion USA
Age: 43
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
Source of wealth: Google
As a student at Stanford University in 1998, Larry Page teamed up with fellow student Sergey Brin to create BackRub, an early search engine. The project eventually turned into Google - now called Alphabet - one of largest companies in the world, worth more than 581 billion dollars. Over the past year, the company's personal net worth increased by $4.3 billion.
10. Ingvar Kamprad 
Net worth: $43 billion USA
Age: 90
Country: Sweden
Industry: retail
How He Got Rich: IKEA
At 17, Ingvar Kamprad founded IKEA, now the world's largest furniture store with nearly 34.2 billion euros ($36 billion) in revenue. Kamprad's plan from the start was to create "eternal life" for IKEA, which meant keeping it on stock market and securing it in a complex corporate structure involving philanthropic work and trade and franchise work, collectively known as the Stichting INGKA Foundation. Although the Swedish business mogul is no longer involved in day-to-day decision-making processes, he still sits in meetings as a senior adviser to the supervisory board. .
Among his peers, the 90-year-old founder is incredibly humble despite his vast fortune. He reportedly flies economy, stays in cheap hotels and drives the same Volvo for more than two decades. He also infamously moved IKEA and his family out of Sweden in the 1970s to avoid its burdensome tax rates. He returned to live in his native country in 2013 after a long spell in Switzerland.
Kamprad has donated $300 million to a lifetime charity.
Last year, Kamprad's personal wealth increased by $2.6 billion.
9. Larry Ellison 
Net worth: $45.3 billion USA
Age: 72
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
How He Got Rich: Oracle Corp.
In 1977, Larry Ellison teamed up with two colleagues from electronic company to start his own programming firm, which soon signed a contract to build a relational database management system for the CIA as part of the Oracle code project. The project grew to what is today known as Oracle Corp., which generated $37 billion last year. In 2010, Ellison cut his annual salary from $1 million to $1, but he still receives over $60 million in compensation through generous stock awards. Ellison stepped down as CEO in 2014 after 38 years and assumed the role of Chief Technical Officer.
The tech mogul is also a generous philanthropist, donating money to nature conservation and medical research.
Ellison's wealth increased by $5.2 billion last year.
7. TIE: David Koch 
Age: 76
Country: USA
Industry: Diversified investments
Along with his brother Charles, David Koch runs Koch Industries and is an executive vice president. The second largest private company, $100 billion (in sales) Koch Industries makes everything from fertilizer and Dixie cups to asphalt and biodiesel. Last year, David's personal wealth fell by $1.2 billion.
Celebrated conservatives, the brothers also maintain huge political influence and regularly spend hundreds of millions on political campaigns with their huge donor network.
David had two encounters with death. He survived the 1991 plane crash that killed everyone else in first class, and also won the battle against prostate cancer. He has become one of the world's most generous benefactors since then, donating more than $1.2 billion to medicine.
7. TIE: Charles Koch 
Net worth: $47.9 billion USA
Age: 81
Country: USA
Industry: Diversified investments
How He Got Rich: Koch Industries
Charles Koch is the chairman and CEO of the diversified conglomerate Koch Industries, the second largest private company in America. His younger brother David is the executive vice president. The company employs 120,000 people and generates $100 billion in annual revenue from its diverse holdings that do everything from petrochemicals and Dixie cups to clothing materials.
The Koch brothers, with a total net worth of $95.8 billion. United States, stands for a world of conservative politics and public policy, advocate for a smaller government, and regularly fund political campaigns.
6. Carlos Slim Helu 
Net worth: $50.7 billion USA
Age: 77
Gender: Male
Industry: Telecom
How He Got Rich: Grupo Carso
The richest man in Mexico owns over 200 companies in his country through a conglomerate called Grupo Carso - also known as Slimlandia. The son of Lebanese-Mexican entrepreneurs, Carlos Slim Helu, gained control of his father's retail and real estate businesses after his death. After earning a degree in civil engineering, Slim built a diversified portfolio during the 1960s, 70s and 80s that now dominates the Mexican economy.
Grupo Carso has acquired the state-owned telephone company Telmex, which now owns 80% of telephone lines in Mexico. In 2008, Slim bought a 6.4% stake in The New York Times for $127 million. He has since increased his ownership to 17%, worth about $391 million thanks to the revival of The Times.
Slim still has aspirations to grow his empire, which includes interests in the financial, industrial, telecommunications and media sectors, especially in his home country, where he invested $4 billion in 2015. However, over the past year, his capital has decreased by $1 billion.
5. Mark Zuckerberg 
Net worth: $58.5 billion USA
Age: 32
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
Source of wealth: facebook
In 2004, Mark Zuckerberg, a 19-year-old sophomore at Harvard, launched TheFacebook.com, a rudimentary version of the now ubiquitous social network known as Facebook. Zuckerberg left college to work full-time as the CEO of Facebook, and the site quickly took off. Today, it attracts over a billion users daily and is worth nearly $400 billion. At 32, Zuckerberg is the youngest of the 50 richest people in the world. His wealth increased by $11.1 billion. USA last year.
In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife Priscilla Chan pledged to give away 99% of their wealth over the course of their lives through an organization called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, although some critics noted that the organization itself is not a non-profit charity.
But this isn't the couple's first foray into philanthropy. They donated $25 million to the fight against Ebola in 2015, and they gave $100 million worth of Facebook shares to improve New Jersey's public school system.
4. Amancio Ortega 
Net worth: $68.5 billion USA
Age: 80
Country: Spain
Industry: retail
How He Got Rich: Inditex
Amancio Ortega - fourth richest man in the world thanks to his control of the Spanish fashion giant Inditex, which Ortega started working as a delivery boy for a local clothing store at 14 and transformed from a small town clothing store to one of the largest fashion empires on the planet. However, Ortega's wealth fell by $800 million last year.
Despite Ortega's vast wealth, he lives modestly. The billionaire still eats lunch with his employees at the company canteen, and although he is the richest man in the fashion industry, he sticks to the simple uniform of a white shirt and blue blazer.
3. Jeff Bezos 
Net worth: $73.1 billion USA
Age: 53
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
Source of wealth: amazon.com
Jeff Bezos made his huge fortune introducing e-commerce to the world. After spending time in Wall Street Finance, Bezos founded Amazon.com in the garage of his Seattle home in 1994 and sold books exclusively. The company went public three years later and has since traded everything from furniture to food to Amazon's own electronics, which generated $136 billion in revenue in 2016.
Bezos also has interests outside of Amazon, including investments in private space company Blue Origin, which successfully launched its first spacecraft in 2015, and The Washington Post, a newspaper he bought in 2013.
Bezos' wealth increased by $21.9 billion last year.
2. Warren Buffett 
Net worth: $77.2 billion USA
Age: 86
Country: USA
Industry: Diversified investments
How He Got Rich: Berkshire Hathaway
Berkshire Hathaway CEO Warren Buffett began his amazing investing career at a young age. As a child, he delivered newspapers on his bike, and by the age of 11, the Nebraska native bought his first shares on the stock market—Cities Service Preferred at $38 a share—and sold them for a $5 profit. He was not accepted into Harvard Business School, so Buffett went to Columbia Business School and studied there. Buffett worked as an analyst valuable papers in the early 1950s before starting his own investment firm. He bought the Berkshire Hathaway textile company in 1969, turning it into a holding company.
The investments that made him rich may seem random - he bet on companies: Coca-Cola, American Express, Geico, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen and General Motors all generate cash that have long-term value. Last year, his net worth increased by $13.1 billion. USA.
A modest man with a love for junk food, Buffett has donated more than $25 billion to charitable causes. He is intimately familiar with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates, with whom he collaborated to create The Promise Maker, the billionaires' promise to give back at least half of his wealth to charity.
1. Bill Gates 
Bill Gates and Warren Buffett speak to journalist Charlie Rose at an event hosted by Columbia Business School on January 27, 2017 in New York City.
Net worth: $85.2 billion USA
Age: 61
Country: USA
Industry: Technology
How He Got Rich: Microsoft
In just 20 years, Bill Gates founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen. In the months leading up to his 31st birthday, the company took off, making Gates a billionaire. He was the CEO of Software until 2000 and was its chairman and largest shareholder until 2014. Although still with the company, Gates is no longer actively involved with Microsoft.
Gates is not only the richest man in the world - his net worth increased by $10.6 billion in the last year alone - but he is also the most generous. Since 1999, Gates and his wife have led the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, one of the most influential philanthropic foundations in the world. The fund, which controls over $40 billion, aims to lift millions of people out of poverty by giving Special attention elimination of HIV, malaria and other infectious diseases. The pair are also working on a plan to mobilize mobile banking for the 2 billion adults who don't have a bank account.
He is also the co-founder of the Giving Pledge, which he started in 2010 with good friend and fellow billionaire Warren Buffett as a pledge to donate 50% or more of his fortunes. Currently, Mark Zuckerberg and Elon Musk are among the 156 members of the Giving Pledge.
