Since 1987, Forbes has been recording the world’s billionaires. Forbes then released the top 10 richest people in the world as of January 1, 2024. According to a published article by Forbes, if combined, the world’s 10 richest people’s value was at $1.47 trillion as of the strike of midnight on January 1 up from $1.44 trillion a month ago.
Seven of the top richest people in the world’s wealth as of the present month climbed up compared to the previous month. Based on the statistics, their wealth collectively increased by $30 billion during December which is a much smaller rise than the $115 billion jump during November 2023.
Interestingly, 9/10 of the richest people in the world are Americans and all of them were men. Without further ado, here are the top 10 world’s richest people in the world in 2024 according to Forbes.
TOP 1: ELON MUSK
Hailed from South Africa, Elon Musk tops the richest people in the world, owning a total net worth of $251.3 billion. His wealth was mostly acquired as CEO of electric car company Tesla, rocket firm SpaceX and social media company X, formerly known as Twitter. Musk occupies 23% of Tesla between stock and options. He has also vowed to share some of his stock as collateral for loans.
TOP 2: Bernard Arnault
With a total net worth of $200.7 billion, Bernard Arnault ranks second in the richest people in the world. Arnault is the CEO and chairman of LVMH, the largest luxury goods company in the world with some 70 fashion and cosmetics brands. Among its most notable: Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Moet & Chandon and Sephora.
TOP 3: Jeff Bezos
Next in the top 10 richest people in the world’s list is Jeff Bezos, having a total net worth of $168.4 billion. Jeff Bezos was the founder and chairman of the e-commerce giant Amazon. In 2021, Bezos travelled to space on a rocket created by private rocket company Blue Origin, which he founded and has funded with billions of dollars.
TOP 4: Larry Ellison
Fourth on the spot of the richest people in the world is Larry Ellison obtaining a total net worth of $135.3 billion. He was the co-founder and CEO of software firm Oracle. At present, Ellison serves as chairman and Chief Technology Officer of the Oracle. Throughout the years Oracle has experienced a series of large acquisitions such as buying Sun Microsystems for $7.4 billion.
TOP 5: Mark Zuckerberg
Who wouldn’t knew the person behind the very successful Facebook/Meta which has 3.88 billion monthly users? Mark Zuckerbeg made it to the top 5 richest people in the world with a total net worth of $125.3 billion. The company that also owns Instagram and WhatsApp had acquired and greatly increase his wealth.
TOP 6: Bill Gates
A CEO of the company Microsoft for 25 years, Bill Gates ranked down to spot sixth in the richest people in the world. With a $119.6 billion, Gates cofounded software firm Microsoft with his high school friend Paul Allen, creating one of the first software programs open for the emerging personal computer industry.
TOP 7: Warren Buffett
Totalling a net worth of $118.6 billion, “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is on the seventh list of the top 10 richest people in the world. Buffett is considered one of the successful investors of all time running the investing conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway, which owns dozens of companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.
TOP 8: Larry Page
Larry Page, with a total net worth of $117.2 billion, ranks eight in the spot of richest people in the world. He cofounded the search engine Google with acquaintance Stanford PhD student Sergey Brin. Page now serves as a board member of Google’s parent Alphabet and remains a controlling shareholder. Page was also a founding investor in asteroid mining company Planetary Resources, which was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys.
TOP 9: Sergey Brin
On the top 9 of the top 10 richest people in the world was Sergey Brin with a total net worth of $112.4 billion. He reportedly ended his tenure as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google but stayed a controlling shareholder and a board member. Brin cofounded Google with Larry Page after the two met at Stanford University while having their education for advanced degrees in computer science.
TOP 10: Steve Ballmer
Accumulating a total net worth of , Steve Ballmer made it to the top 10 richest people in the world. Ballmer was a classmate of Bill Gates’ at Harvard University, he reportedly joined Microsoft as employee number 30 after dropping out of the MBA program at Stanford University but afterwards manage Microsoft as its CEO.
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Note that stock prices may sway regularly, so these net worths may modify on a daily basis. According to Forbes, they track the daily changes on their Real Time list of billionaires.
