What does it take to get into the league of the richest people in the world? – is a question some of us might ponder sometimes and promptly forget about because it is so wild. The world of the rich is so distant and different from the lives of ordinary people that we can only see and hear about it in the news.
Regardless, it is true that billionaires steer the direction of our society. They’re the ones with the biggest responsibilities. Though most of them don’t care about anything maximizing their profits, some (Elon Musk, Bill Gates) do think far ahead into the future and are trying to help humanity to their capacity.
So, let’s take a look at the top world billionaires, and maybe it will inspire you to save up your own money, invest, improve your finances, and join their ranks!
Fun Fact: The USA has the highest number of High-Net-Worth Individuals with 735 Billionaires worth a collective $4.5 trillion. China is at second with 562 Billionaires worth $2 trillion and India at third, with 169 Billionaires worth $675 billion.
Four Countries got their first Billionaires in 2024, which are Uruguay, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Barbados.
The Unsurprising List of the World’s Wealthiest People in 2024!
Here are the top 10 richest people in the world according to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index.
Note: The figures mentioned in this article are accurate as of March 6, 2024, and can fluctuate as per the market valuation of their companies.
10. Sergey Brin
Sergey Brin, the co-founder of Google, stands as the tenth-richest individual globally, boasting a formidable net worth of $116 billion as of March 2024. Born in Moscow, Russia, Brin co-founded Google with his Stanford colleague, Larry Page.
Brin stepped down as the President of Alphabet in 2019. He is a board member and major shareholder and remains deeply involved in the company’s operations.
| Source | Alphabet Inc. |
| Net Worth | $116 billion |
| Age | 50 years |
| Country | United States |
9. Larry Page
Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, is the eighth among the top 10 billionaires. His net worth soared from just below $52 billion in March 2020 to the current $122 billion. Page is a board member and major shareholder of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
The billionaire is also interested in space exploration and flying cars. He is a founding investor for Planetary Resources, an aerospace company, Kitty Hawk, and Opener, a flying car startup.
| Source | Alphabet Inc. |
| Net Worth | $122 billion |
| Age | 50 years |
| Nationality | The United States and New Zealand |
Larry Page, the co-founder of Google, is the eighth among the top 10 billionaires. His net worth soared from just below $52 billion in March 2020 to the current $122 billion. Page is a board member and major shareholder of Alphabet, Google’s parent company.
8. Larry Ellison
Real Estate Property Investment is one of the most profitable investment methods. And Ellison holds more than $17.2 billion in real estate. The Hawaiian Island of Lanai and a $173 million luxury mansion in Florida are a few of his assets.
He also owns Oracle, the second-largest software company in the world. Ellison also served on the Tesla board of directors from 2018 to 2022.
| Source | Oracle Corporation, Tesla equity, Real Estate |
| Net Worth | $126 billion |
| Age | 79 years old |
| Country | The United States of America |
7. Warren Buffett
At age 93, Buffet is seventh on the billionaire list. He is also the most famous living value investor, making billions by buying and holding companies.
His company, Berkshire Hathaway, has a diverse portfolio of subsidiaries, including insurance firms, restaurant chains, energy distribution, and consumer products.
| Source | Berkshire Hathaway |
| Net Worth | $132 billion |
| Age | 93 years old |
| Country | USA |
6. Steve Ballmer
Los Angeles Clippers owner, Steve Ballmer has a total net worth of $139 billion and is, right now, the sixth most richest individual on earth. The US businessman joined Microsoft in 1980 and became its CEO in 2000 till he stepped down in 2014.
Besides his shares in Microsoft and his Clippers basketball team, Ballmer also owns The Forum and Intuit Dome.
| Source | Microsoft, Los Angeles Clippers, The Forum |
| Net Worth | $139 billion |
| Age | 67 years |
| Country | United States |
5. Bill Gates
The famous Bill Gates was the first person to become a billionaire due to his Microsoft Inc. – the biggest and arguably the best software company in the whole world.
The famous Bill Gates was the first person to become a billionaire due to his Microsoft Inc. – the biggest and arguably the best software company in the whole world.
Fun Fact: Bill Gates held the title of the richest person in the world from 1995 to 2017, with few exceptions in 2008 and from 2010 to 2013. He currently stands fifth and is worth a whopping $149 billion.
| Source | Microsoft, Cascade Investment LLC |
| Net Worth | $149 billion |
| Age | 68 years old |
| Country | USA |
4. Mark Zuckerberg
Mark Zuckerberg is the only billionaire under 40 on this list. The 39-year-old is the CEO and chair of Meta Platforms. He co-founded Facebook in 2004 when he was a student at Harvard University.
Besides Facebook, Meta platforms include Instagram, WhatsApp, Oculus (VR headset producer), and Workspace (enterprise-connectivity platform).
| Source | Meta Platforms |
| Net Worth | $176 billion |
| Age | 39 years |
| Country | United States |
3. Elon Musk
Elon Musk is not more the world’s richest man. However, the Twitter (now X) and Tesla boss still have – around $192 billion! He was at the top spot in Feb 2024 after a brief dip to second place, thanks to a surge in Tesla’s stock value.
Musk is known for doing things differently in business and tech space. He’s also known for steering humanity’s exploration of space as the CEO and Chief Engineer of SpaceX.
| Source | Tesla, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and X (formerly Twitter) |
| Net Worth | $192 billion |
| Age | 52 years old |
| Country | United States of America |
Also Read: How Much Money Does Elon Musk Make a Second
2. Bernard Arnault and Family
The French luxury goods tycoon stands second among the richest people in the world. He is the CEO and chair at LVMH, the world’s renowned luxury goods company. LVMH holds over 70 cosmetics and fashion brands under its name, including Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora.
Arnault dethroned Elon Musk to become the richest person in the world in December 2022, a title he held till February 2023. Musk then took over, but Arnault regained it in July 2023 till October 2023. As of March 6, 2024, he is the second richest with a net worth of $195 billion.
| Source | LVMH, Moelis & Company Equity, Christian Dior Ownership Stake, Hermès equity |
| Net Worth | $195 billion |
| Age | 74 years old |
| Country | France |
1. Jeff Bezos
The most notorious billionaire has climbed to the top of the chart of richest people in the world, recently. He is the founder of Amazon.com – the world’s first and biggest online shopping site in 1994.
After stepping down as the CEO of Amazon in 2021, he went on space exploration via a rocket developed by his private aerospace company, Blue Origin. The billionaire has also purchased a luxury superyacht, koru, for 500 million dollars in 2023.
| Source | Amazon, The Washington Post, Blue Origin |
| Net Worth | $197 billion |
| Age | 60 |
| Country | United States of America |
Also Read: How to Become a Teenage Millionaire
Top 10 Richest Women in the World
Although the world of billionaires is dominated by men, there are plenty of women here too. According to Forbes’ estimate, 327 out of 2,668 billionaires in the whole world are women. More than half of them inherited their wealth while hardly a hundred are self-made. Following is a quick list of the top 10 wealthiest women in the world in 2024.
Fun Fact: Rihanna, the iconic pop star, is now Barbados’s first billionaire and America’s youngest self-made billionaire thanks to her make-up brand, Fenty Beauty with a net worth of $1.4 billion.
10. Iris Fontbona & family
Iris Balbina Fontbona González is a Chilean mining magnate, media proprietor, and billionaire businesswoman. She is the widow of Andrónico Luksic Abaroa, and she inherited Antofagasta PLC from him.
| Net Worth | $23.1 billion |
| Source | Mining |
| Age | 80 years |
| Country | Chile |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 65 |
9. MacKenzie Scott
MacKenzie Scott is a well-known philanthropist. She is also an author known for her contributions to the philanthropic sphere. She was formerly married, for 25 years, to Jeff Bezos, the founder of Amazon. After her divorce in 2019, she acquired a 4% ownership stake in the online retail giant.
| Net Worth | $24.4 billion |
| Source | Amazon |
| Age | 52 years old |
| Country | The United States of America |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 60 |
8. Gina Rinehart
Rinehart inherited her position from her father at the Hancock Prospecting Group – a prominent mining and agriculture company in Australia.
| Net Worth | $27 billion |
| Source | Mining |
| Age | 69 years old |
| Country | Australia |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 52 |
7. Susanne Klatten
Susanne Hanna Ursula Klatten is a German billionaire heiress, the offspring of Herbert and Johanna Quandt. As of January 2022, her wealth was approximated to be around US$23.4 billion, solidifying her position as the wealthiest woman in Germany.
| Net Worth | $27.4 billion |
| Source | BMW, pharmaceuticals |
| Age | 60 years old |
| Country | Germany |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 51 |
6. Rafaela Aponte-Diamant
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant is a 50% shareholder in MSC, the world’s largest shipping line. She started MSC with her husband, Gianluigi, in 1970. The shipping company has now expanded into holiday cruises, inland logistics, and port operations.
| Net Worth | $31.2 billion |
| Source | Shipping |
| Age | 78 years old |
| Country | Switzerland |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 43 |
5. Miriam Adelson
Miriam came into a fortune after the death of her husband, Sheldon Adelson – a casino magnate in Las Vegas.
| Net Worth | $35 billion |
| Source | Amazon |
| Age | 53 years old |
| Country | USA |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 35 |
4. Jaqueline Mars
The famous candymaker brand owner holds 1/3rd of the company’s shares.
| Net Worth | $38.3 billion |
| Source | Candy and Pet food |
| Age | 83 years |
| Country | USA |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 31 |
3. Alice Walton
Another heiress, Alice Walton made her fortune by inheriting the famous superstore chain Walmart from her father.
| Net Worth | $56.7 billion |
| Source | Walmart |
| Age | 73 years old |
| Country | USA |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 21 |
2. Julia Koch
Julia Koch and her family became billionaires after inheriting 42% shares in her late husband’s company Koch Industries – the second biggest private company in America.
| Net Worth | $59 billion |
| Source | Koch Industries |
| Age | 60 years old |
| Country | USA |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 17 |
1. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Meyers is the world’s richest woman right now as the owner of the giant beauty company L’Oreal. Interestingly, before her, her mother Liliane Bettencourt was the wealthiest woman in the world until her death in 2018.
| Net Worth | $80.5 billion |
| Source | L’Oreal |
| Age | 69 years old |
| Country | France |
| Forbes’ Real-Time Billionaires List Rank | 11 |
The Bottom Line
The world of the rich is fascinating as it is distant. It is always interesting to know who is at the top and who bit the dust. The rise and fall of these companies is a great lesson in finance for us all.
READ MORE: How to Save Money as a Broke College Student
Images from: Wikimedia Commons
