Forbes has released the Top 10 richest people in the world and as usual Americans lead the way.
Highlights
Centi-billionaire Jeff Bezos secures the list’s top spot for the first time, becoming the only person to appear in the Forbes ranks with a 12-figure fortune.
Bezos’s fortune leapt more than $39 billion, the list’s biggest one-year gain ever. He moves ahead of Bill Gates, who is now number 2. It is the biggest gap between no. 1 and 2 since 2001.
Bernard Arnault, with a fortune of $72 billion, reclaims the title of richest European for the first time since 2012.
Top 10 Richest People In The World
Jeff Bezos, richest man in the world
1. Jeff Bezos, (Age: 54, Net Worth: $131.3 Billion)
Jeff Bezos is the Chief of Amazon, He owns 16% of e-commerce colossus Amazon, which he founded in a garage in Seattle in 1994.
Jeff Bezos owns over 80 million shares of Amazon, according to recent filings.
He is the second youngest billionaire in the world and the first person to top $100 billion as number one on the Forbes list of the World’s Billionaires.
2. Bill Gates, (Age: 62, Net Worth: $91.7 Billion)
With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world’s largest private charitable foundation.
The foundation works to save lives and improve global health, and is working with Rotary International to eliminate polio.
Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft — he owns just over 1% of shares — and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.
He remains a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen in 1975.
3. Warren Buffett (Age: 87, Net Worth: $89.7 Billion)
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time.
He runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.
#4 Bernard Arnault & family (Age: 69, Net Worth: $75.1 Billion)
One of the world’s ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
Record results at LVMH and a megadeal to buy out nearly all of Christian Dior helped boost Arnault’s fortune by $30.5 billion in one year.
5. Mark Zuckerberg, (Age: 33, Net Worth: $73.3 Billion)
Harvard dropout, Mark Zuckerberg Also made it into Forbes list of richest people in the world, this year he was ranked as the fifth richest person in the world, he is also the youngest billionaire in the world.
He founded Facebook in 2004 at the age of 19.
Read Also: Top 10 Youngest Billionaires In Africa – Forbes-2018
6. Amancio Ortega (Age: 81, Net Worth” $67.5 Billion)
Amancio Ortega is one of the richest men in Europe and the wealthiest retailer in the world.
A pioneer in fast fashion, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera (d. 2013) in 1975.
He owns about 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world.
7. Carlos Slim Helu & family (Age: 78, Net Worth: $71.1 Billion)
Mexico’s richest man and 7th richest person in the world, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control America Movil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm.
He also owns stakes in Mexican construction, consumer goods, mining and real estate companies and 17% of The New York Times.
8. Charles Koch (Age: 82, Net Worth: $61.5 Billion)
Charles Koch has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, America’s second largest private company, since 1967.
He is the eighth richest person in the world
The conglomerate has $100 billion in revenues from businesses including pipelines, chemicals, Dixie cups, Brawny paper towels and Stainmaster carpets.
Read Also: Top 10 Black Billionaires In The World – Forbes 2017
9. David Koch (Age: 77, Net Worth: $61.5 Billion)
David Koch shares majority control of Koch Industries, U.S’s second largest private firm, with his brother Charles.
Koch Industries, which has revenues of $100 billion, operates pipelines, produces fertilizer and makes Dixie cups and Quilted Northern toilet paper.
10. Larry Ellison (Age: 77, Net Worth: $63.7 Billion)
Larry Ellison co-founded software firm Oracle in 1977 to tap into the growing need for customer relationship management databases.
He gave up the Oracle CEO role in 2014 but still serves as chairman of the board and chief technology officer.
