Forbes magazine’s most recent list of the world’s wealthiest people, the number of billionaires has shrunk by $400 billion in the last year.
According to Forbes’ annual World’s Billionaires list, there are 2,668 billionaires in the world, down 87 from the previous year. These billionaires have a total net worth of $12.7 trillion.
The drop in the number of billionaires is attributed to the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the COVID pandemic, and weaker markets, according to Forbes.
With 735 billionaires, the United States continues to lead all countries with the most billionaires, followed by China with 607.
With a net worth of $219 billion, Elon Musk, the Tesla and SpaceX creator, topped Forbes’ list for the first time ever. More than half of the top ten billionaires came from the IT industry.
Who are the top 10 richest people in the world?
1. Elon Musk ($219 billion). Musk recently joined Twitter’s board after claiming a 9% stake in the company.
2. Jeff Bezos ($171 billion). He founded a little company called Amazon. He also has his own aerospace company, Blue Origin.
3. Bernard Arnault and family ($158 billion). Arnault runs LVMH, the company behind brands including Louis Vuitton, Marc Jacobs, and Christian Dior.
4. Bill Gates ($129 billion). Gates co-founded software giant Microsoft.
5. Warren Buffett ($118 billion). The “Oracle of Omaha” is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, and made his billions through investing.
6. Larry Page ($111 billion). Next time you Google anything, remember Page, who is one of its co-founders.
7. Sergey Brin ($107 billion). Brin co-founded Google with Page.
8. Larry Ellison ($106 billion). Ellison runs software giant Oracle.
9. Steve Ballmer ($91.4 billion). Ballmer once served as CEO of Microsoft. Today, he’s the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers.
10. Mukesh Ambani $(90.7 billion). Ambani is the chairman and managing director of Reliance Industries, which is involved in multiple industries including petrochemicals and textiles.
