Top Richest Person In World

 

Top billionaires: who are the richest people in the world?

31 new people have joined the billionaires’ club during the pandemic

Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

16 Oct , 2020

There is a silver lining to the Covid crisis for the world's wealthiest people, whose fortunes have swollen throughout the pandemic.

Many of the world’s billionaires have “doubled down on risk in choppy financial markets and profited from the tech boom”, the Financial Times says, leaving them with a record collective wealth of $10.2tn (£7.91tn), topping the previous high set in 2017.

The data, compiled by the Swiss bank UBS, also found that 31 new people have joined the billionaires’ club, with the total number of billionaires worldwide rising to 2,189, up from 2,158 in 2017.

All is not totally rosy for the world's super rich, though.

“The report comes at a time when growing economic inequality in the US, the UK and some other leading economies, has put the role of the rich - and, especially, of high-profile billionaires - in the spotlight,” the FT adds, with critics attacking “regulatory regimes” that allow market dominance and “low tax rates imposed on capital in... the US and the UK”.

So amid the new billionaire haul, who is the richest of them all?

World’s richest people

According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index (as of 7 August)

1. Jeff Bezos, $190bn

The former hedge fund manager turned online book seller started Amazon in his garage in 1994. Bezos has invested heavily in space technology and also owns The Washington Post newspaper.

2. Bill Gates, $120bn

A permanent fixture at the top end of rich list for the past 20 years, the Microsoft founder has sold or given away much of his stake in the company – he owns just 1% of Microsoft – and now focuses predominantly on his philanthropic work.

3. Mark Zuckerberg, $100bn

Zuckerberg famously started Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19 and now is among the top five richest men in the world.

4. Bernard Arnault & family, $81.4bn

Arnault is the wealthiest European on the list. The Frenchman oversees an empire of more than 60 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

5. Mukesh Ambani, $80.3bn

Indian Ambani has a 42% controlling stake in Reliance Industries, which is the owner of the world’s largest oil refining complex. He is also the owner of property worth more than $400m.

6. Steve Ballmer, $77.7bn

The American was the former CEO of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers NBA franchise.

7. Warren Buffett, $77.5bn

Now in his ninth decade, the Berkshire Hathaway chief executive, known as the “Oracle of Omagh” is one of the most successful investors of all time. Like Gates he has pledged to give away more than 99% of his fortune to charity.

8. Larry Page, $71.6bn

Internet entrepreneur Page is one of the co-founders of Google. He stepped down as CEO of Google’s parent company Alphabet Inc. in December 2019 but remains a board member.

9. Elon Musk, $70.2bn

Musk is the founder and CEO of SpaceX and also the CEO of Tesla.

10. Sergey Brin, $69.4bn 

Along with Larry Page, Brin was a co-founder of Google. Until December 2019 he was president of Alphabet Inc