With wealth comes power and these 20 richest Billionaires in the world control everything we know yet most people don’t even know their names…until now. Learn the names and net worths of the richest people in the world and how they earned their wealth.
Most in the list received their spot thanks to their inheritances but a few names actually earned their wealth. But despite their differences in how they earned their wealth, one thing they all have in common and that is they are all filthy rich!
20. Carlos Slim Helu – $60.4 Billion
Starting the list off is Helu, a Mexican businessman, investor, and philanthropist. Incredibly between 2010 to 2013, he was named the richest person in the world by Forbes but received little to no media attention.
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Through his conglomerate, Grupo Carso, Slim was able to make extensive profits through several Mexican companies. His conglomerate involves a vast range of industries ranging from health care, education, sports, real estate, manufacturing, and more. If that isn’t impressive enough, Carlos accounts for more than 40% of the listings on the Mexican Stock Exchange.
19. Jack Ma – $60.5 Billion
He is the co-founder and former executive chairman of Alibaba Group, a massive multinational tech conglomerate. Ma is also a global ambassador for Chinese business, with Forbes ranking him as No.1 on their “World’s Most Powerful People” list.
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A champion of startup businesses, in 2017, Ma was also named second in Fortune’s “Worlds 50 Greatest Leaders” list. At just 56 years old, Jack Ma announced he would retire from Alibaba to focus on education and philanthropy work.
18. Ma Huateng – $63.7 Billion
Also known as Pony Ma, Ma Huateng is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer at Tencent, which, at the moment, is not only one of Asia’s biggest companies but one of the most comprehensive Internet, technology, gaming, and entertainment businesses in the world.
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The company is also in charge of developing WeChat. While the app has received mixed reviews from western audiences, it is still China’s biggest mobile instant messaging service. Despite his considerable success and wealth, Pony Ma abhors being interviews and likes to keep to himself.
17. Rob Walton – $66.6 Billion
Samuel “Rob” Walton is the heir to Walmart, which is currently the world’s largest retailer. After graduating from college from Columbia Law School, he became a lawyer at the firm that represented Walmart, Conner & Winters in Tulsa, Oklahoma, eventually leaving to become the Walmart senior vice president.
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In 1982, he was then appointed chairman of Walmart, a position that he held from 1992 to 2015. Fun Fact: He has several family members features in this list and together, they have pledged around $2 billion to philanthropic causes through their Walton Family Foundation.
16. Jim Walton – $67 Billion
Jim is the brother of Rob Walton and is also an heir to the Walmart fortune. Jim joined Walmart in 1972 and was involved in real estate before moving to Walton Enterprises as president in 1975.
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In 2005, he replaced his brother John, who unexpectedly passed away in an air crash accident, on the Walmart Board of Directors. Apart from Wallmart, he also worked as the CEO of the family-owned Arvest Bank, became the Chairman of newspaper firm Community Publishers Inc., and much more.
15. Alice Walton – $67.2 Billion
The only sister of the two Walton brothers, Rob and Jim, Alice is the third heir to the Walton family fortune. Much like her family, she also holds a college degree and graduated from the University of San Antonio, Texas, with a B.A. in economics.
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She went on to work as an equity analyst, and money manager for First Commerce Corporation then worked at the family-owned Arvest Bank Group and was finally a broker for EF Hutton. She also started her own investment bank, Llama Company, where she served as the president, chairwoman, and CEO. Apart from being the 15th richest billionaire, she is also the second richest women in the world.
14. Francoise Bettencourt – $70.4 Billion
The French billionaire heiress is the only daughter of Liliane Bettencourt and her family owns the world-famous company L’Oréal. With such wealth from such a young age, you would expect Franciose to love the party life but she was actually raised in a strict catholic household.
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Bettencourt has even written several Bible commentaries and works on Jewish-Christian relationships. She also had a tumultuous relationship with her mother, who she sued at one point. Francoise has two children with Jean-Pierre Meyers and recently donated $226 million towards the repair of the historic cathedral, Notre-Dame de Paris when it was severely damaged due to a fire.
13. Amancio Ortega – $73.7 Billion
Being the founder and former chairman of the Inditex fashion group. While that name might not be familiar to most, Zara would be. Inditex is the parent company of the world’s largest clothing chain. For a short time in 2015, Ortega was named the richest man in the world, passing Bill Gates, when his net worth reached $80 billion as Inditex’s stock skyrocketed.
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Ortega didn’t come from wealth, with his father being a railway worker, and in his youth, he learned to make clothes by hand and opened up his first Zara store with his wife Roselia Mera in 1975. Little is known about him, as of 2012 he has only ever given a total of three interviews to journalists.
12. Steve Ballmer – $75.8 Billion
An American investor and businessman, Steven Ballmer served as Microsoft’s chief executive officer from 2000 to 2014. His father always knew that Ballmer was destined for success and at just eight years old, he predicted his son would attend Harvard.
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Steve did just that for his B. A and while working on his MBA at Stanford, he was recruited by none other than Bill Gates to join his company. Eight years later, he rose to the position of president, replacing Bill Gates as CEO on January 13, 2000. Today, he is the owner of the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
11. Mukesh Ambani – $79.3 Billion
Ambani recently became known to media outlets because of the lavish wedding he threw his daughter but before that, Mukesh stayed relatively out of the limelight. Born in 1957, Mukesh Ambani is currently the chairman, managing director, and largest shareholder of Reliance Industries Ltd., India’s most valuable company at market value and a Fortune Global 500 company.
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Ambani’s work on Reliance began during his time when he attended the Stanford University MBA program, which he left shortly to help his father with the growing company. To this day, Ambani is the only Indian businessman to be on Forbe’s list of the world’s most powerful people and owns the infamous, Antilia a $2 billion compound in Mumbai, India.
10. Sergey Brin – $79.9 Billion
The entrepreneur and computer scientist got his start when attending Stanford University for a PhD in mathematic in computer science where he met Larry Page. Working together in Susan Wojcicki’s garage in Menlo Park, California, the two co-founded Google.
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Brin was co-founder and the president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., since its inception before stepping down in 2019. He also has spearheaded the company’s interest in environmental issues and has donated millions of his own personal wealth to the cause.
9. Larry Page – $82.3 Billion
From 1997 until 2001, Page served as the chief executive officer of Google before stepping down. Both his parents were heavily involved in Computer science and it is no wonder that their son, founded Google with Brin.
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He sadly sufferers from an autoimmune disease called Hashimoto’s thyroiditis and has donated $20 million to the research program, the biggest donation ever. He is married to Lucinda Southworth, the sister of actress Carrie Southworth.
8. Larry Ellison – $87.1 Billion
Although he had a rough upbringing, after completing his education, he went on to become the chief executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation, a company which he created in 1977.
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The company became a database vendor that competed with the likes of Sybase and Microsoft SQL Server, making Ellison an incredibly rich and influential individual in the field of technology. He is also the owner of the 41st largest island in the United States, Lanai that has a population of just over 3000.
7. Warren Buffett – $88.3 Billion
The master investor and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway is well-loved by the common man. From a young age, Buffett was determined to become successful and was involved in several business partnerships, creating Buffett Partnership.
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He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world. Today, he is referred to as the “oracle” or Sage of Omaha, Nebraska, by media sources. On April 11, 2012, Buffett was diagnosed with stage I prostate cancer during a routine test but didn’t let it dampen his spirits and was quoted as saying ” Buffett said he felt “great – as if I were in my normal excellent health – and my energy level is 100 per cent.”
6. Zhong Shanshan – $91.8 Billion
He founded Nongfu Spring, which is currently the largest beverage company in China and is also the owner of the mega pharmaceutical brand Wantai. In September 2020, when his company went public, Zong made headlines for becoming the fourth-richest man in the world, practically overnight.
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Currently, Zhong owns 84.4% of the company with his wife’s relatives owning an additional 6.2% combined. Despite his growing wealth, Zhong lives a modest life compared to his net worth and focuses more on working than the glitz and glamour of wealth.
5. Mark Zuckerberg – $97.9 Billion
Unlike most on our list, Mark Zuckerberg is well known to the public for co-founding Facebook Inc. He currently serves as the company’s chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder. While attending Harvard University, he launched Facebook from his dorm room on February 4, 2004, with his roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andrew Collum, Dustin Moskovitz, and Chris Hughes.
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By 2012, the platform had over 1 billion users. By 2007, Zuckerberg was the world’s youngest self-made billionaire at 23-years-old and took the company public in 2012. Recently, he has been embroiled in vote tampering lawsuits and due to wide public criticism is keeping a low-profile.
4. Bill Gates – $121.6 Billion
Another well-known name in our list, Bill Gates is widely known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation. Gates co-founded Microsoft with his childhood friend Paul Allen in Albuquerque, New Mexico, in 1975.
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Apart from his ground-breaking work through Microsoft, Gates has also spearheaded philanthropic work amongst other billionaires, leaving an impressive model to work with. He also created The Giving Pledge, with Warren Buffet where they ask other billionaires to give half of their wealth to philanthropic causes, the pledge has 211 signatories from 23 countries.
3. Bernard Arnault – $148.54 Billion
The French billionaire is the chairman and chief executive officer of LVMH Moet Hennessey – Louis Vuitton SE, the largest luxury goods company globally. In April 2018, the success of his businesses made him the richest person in the fashion industry, finally beating out his long-time competitor, Amancio Ortega of Zara.
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He also held the title of the richest person in the world, surpassing Jeff Bezos in December 2019 and once again for a period of time in January 2020. He is also a notable art collector, owning works from Picasso, Yves Klein, Henry Moore, and Andy Warhol.
2. Elon Musk – $181.3 Billion
Despite being a usual headline grabber, not much is known about the eccentric Musk. We do know that he is the brains behind Tesla and has many plans for not just his company but the human race!
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He has been on the list of the World’s Most Powerful People, Most Innovative Leaders of 2019, and was the richest person in the world for a week in January 2021. Recently he has received criticism because of his views on the pandemic, the name of his son and his various problematic tweets.
1. Jeff Bezos – $188.3 Billion
The story of how Jeff Bezos started Amazon in 1994 is as profounding as his net worth. Started as an online bookstore, Bezos grew his business with questionable practices even going as far as setting it up in Native American reservations to avoid paying taxes.
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He also used the aggressive acquisition of smaller competitors and is described by The New York Times as ” “a brilliant but mysterious and coldblooded corporate titan”. Unlike most other billionaires, Bezos does not focus on philanthropic work heavily and is still relentlessly focused on expanding Amazon and its plethora of services.