25 Richest Person in the world

25 Richest Person in the world

1. Bernard Arnault & family

The guy behind those fancy French luxury goods just skyrocketed to the top of the World’s Billionaires list – and it’s his first time there! This big leap happened because his company, LVMH, had a smashing year. You might’ve heard of LVMH – they own Louis Vuitton, Christian Dior, Tiffany & Co., and some other cool stuff. Basically, they’re swimming in success: their earnings, profits, and their company’s shares are all higher than ever before.

Guess what? This awesome streak pumped a whopping $53 billion into the tycoon’s wallet over the past year. That’s the biggest cash pile increase out of all the billionaires out there. This guy is basically rolling in money like Scrooge McDuck.

But hold up, he’s not just enjoying his wealth solo. He’s thinking about the future too. In July, he came up with a plan to sort out his company, Agache, where he stashes most of his LVMH stock. His cool idea? Giving his five kids an equal piece of the pie. So, it’s not just about being rich now – he’s making sure his success story continues with the next generation.

2. Elon Musk

Musk kind of talked his way out of being at the very top of the charts. You see, the value of Tesla, his electric car company, went down by almost half (that’s a lot!) after he said he was going to buy Twitter for $44 billion back in April. Compare that to the tech-heavy Nasdaq, which only fell 18% during the same time. People who invest money weren’t too thrilled about the $23 billion of Tesla shares he sold to get the cash for the Twitter deal. It’s like selling your stuff to buy something else, but the new thing isn’t as awesome as you thought.

But wait, there’s good news! His other baby, SpaceX, is doing super well. The company’s value shot up to nearly $140 billion in early 2023, compared to the $127 billion it was worth last May. So, even though Tesla isn’t flying as high, SpaceX is zooming ahead.

Here’s the catch: Musk’s wealth took a hit. He’s got $39 billion less in his pocket than he did just a year ago. Money can be kind of funny like that – sometimes it’s up, sometimes it’s down.

3. Jeff Bezos

Age: 59

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Amazon

Net worth: $114 Billion

Ever since Bezos left his job as the big boss of Amazon in 2021, he’s been up to some interesting stuff. First, he took a trip to space with his own company, Blue Origin. Then he caught everyone’s attention by getting a nearly finished super fancy yacht that costs a whopping $500 million. And that’s not all – he’s been getting all charitable too. He’s been supporting cool things like free preschools through the Bezos Academy and giving money through his Bezos Earth Fund.

But hold on a sec, his money situation isn’t as sunny. His fortune took a bit of a tumble – he’s $57 billion poorer than he was just a year ago. That’s a pretty big drop, the largest loss any billionaire has faced. Blame it on Amazon’s stock value going down by 38%. So, even though he’s exploring space and doing good deeds, his piggy bank isn’t as full as it used to be.

4. Larry Ellison

The big shot in charge of Oracle and who used to be its CEO moved up four spots, even though it was a tricky year for the tech world. This happened because the value of Oracle’s shares went up by 10% – they made good money and made things more secure. Last summer, Ellison spent a whopping $173 million on one of Florida’s fanciest homes. He’s got a collection of fancy properties, like an entire Hawaiian island called Lanai, where he lives. Oh, and he also said goodbye to Tesla’s board in August after being on it for four years.

5. Warren Buffett

Age: 92

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Berkshire Hathaway

Net worth: $106 Billion

For the last three years, Buffett has been on a bit of a shopping spree. He took about $90 billion from his company Berkshire Hathaway and invested it in things like stocks and buying back shares. He also bought an insurance company called Alleghany Corp. for a whopping $11.5 billion, and that deal was all done by October.

Around the end of March, the super-experienced investor, often called the Oracle of Omaha, had a chat with the people running the Biden administration. He shared his insights about what happens during banking panics (those moments when people suddenly want to withdraw all their money from banks) and even talked about maybe putting money into smaller banks. It’s like getting advice from a wise old friend who’s been through a lot in the market world.

6. Bill Gates

Age: 67

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Microsoft 

Net worth: $104 Billion

Gates took a step back from the Microsoft board in 2020, but he’s not sitting idle. About 10% of his time still goes into working with the folks at Microsoft – yep, the same company he co-founded. And guess what? He’s also involved with OpenAI, a cool tech venture that Microsoft supports. Gates thinks this whole thing is just as important as when personal computers and the internet came along. He’s pretty excited about tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which can create stuff on its own.

Now, speaking of exciting stuff, Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates, are ramping up the spending for their foundation – the Gates Foundation. They’re like the captains of the ship there. And here’s the plan: they want to do a lot of good, but they also plan to close down the foundation within 25 years. So, while Gates might have stepped away from Microsoft’s board, he’s still got a lot on his plate.

7. Michael Bloomberg

Age: 81

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Bloomberg LP 

Net worth: $94.5 Billion

Even though he gave away around $1.7 billion to charity in the last year, the guy who helped start Bloomberg LP (that’s a company) still got even richer. How? Well, his business that provides financial info and news brought in a lot of money – about $13.3 billion in 2022, up from $12.5 billion in 2021.

Bloomberg has been a friend to Israel for quite some time. But he did something interesting: he got involved in the political talk in Israel. In March, he wrote an article in The New York Times where he shared his thoughts about the plans of Israel’s Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to make some changes to the country’s court system. It’s like when someone who knows a lot about a subject shares their opinion to help shape things.

8. Carlos Slim Helú & family

Age: 83

Citizenship: Mexico

Income Source : Telecom 

Net worth: $93 Billion

The guy who’s really into telecom and owns a big mobile phone company América Móvil, that works across lots of places in Latin America, like a superhero, saw his company’s shares in New York go up by 14% in the last year. That bump made him way richer, about $12 billion richer! And guess what? He’s now back in the group of the world’s ten richest folks, something he hadn’t been part of since 2019.

But wait, there’s more! In February, he decided to sell his super fancy mansion in Manhattan. This place is right across from a famous museum called the Metropolitan Museum of Art. He put a price tag of $80 million on it, which is nearly twice the amount he paid for it back in 2010. It’s like he’s making some big moves, both in his business and his real estate

9. Mukesh Ambani

Age: 65

Citizenship: India

Income Source : Telecom, Oil & Gas, Retail

Net worth: $83.4 Billion

25 Richest Person in the world at 9th, Ambani hopped back into the position of being Asia’s wealthiest person, thanks to Gautam Adani’s rankings slipping. Just last year, Ambani’s massive company, Reliance Industries, which does everything from oil to telecom, made history by crossing the $100 billion revenue mark – the first Indian company to do so.

When people started talking about who would take over his role in the future, Ambani had a clever move. He brought his kids into the picture by giving them important jobs. His older son, Akash, is now in charge of the telecom arm, Jio Infocomm. His daughter, Isha, is heading up the retail business. And his son Anant is working on exciting new energy projects. It’s like keeping it all in the family and planning for the future all at once.

10. Steve Ballmer

Age: 67

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Microsoft

Net worth: $80.7 Billion

Ballmer’s basketball team, the L.A. Clippers, which is actually one of the most valuable teams in the NBA, is doing really well. He’s super dedicated to them and is even making a brand new arena for them to play in. The cool thing is that he’s funding this $2 billion project all on his own, and it’s set to be finished in 2024.

On the money front, things have been a bit bumpy. Ballmer’s wealth has gone down by around $10 billion in the last year. The main reason? The value of Microsoft, the company he used to be the big boss of, went down. So, while his basketball team is soaring, his money isn’t quite as high as before.

11. Françoise Bettencourt Meyers & family

Age: 69

Citizenship: France

Income Source : L’Oréal 

Net worth: $80.5 Billion

The lady who inherited the L’Oréal beauty empire is holding on to her crown as the world’s richest woman for the third time in a row. How’d she do it? The value of L’Oréal’s makeup and beauty stuff went up by 12% in the past year.

But it’s not just about money – she’s been pretty awesome in other ways too. She pledged a massive $230 million to help fix the Notre-Dame Cathedral. And here’s another cool thing: she hired someone to help her run her investment company, Téthys Invest. With this company, she supports different projects, including a fancy French hospital group called Elsan. So, she’s not just about cosmetics; she’s into all sorts of great stuff.

12. Larry Page

Age: 50

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Google 

Net worth: $79.2 Billion

About three years after one of the people who helped start Google decided to step back from the everyday stuff, he and his co-founder attended some meetings in 2022 to talk about their plans. This was because there’s this big race in the world of AI (that’s artificial intelligence) and ChatGPT is one of the reasons for it.

This guy, Page, also changed his money strategy. Before, he was selling a bunch of his stock (kind of like shares of a company), and he made more than $2.5 billion from it between May 2021 and April 2022. But guess what? He hasn’t sold any of his shares since then. It’s like he’s holding on to them for now.

13. Amancio Ortega

Age: 87

Citizenship: Spain

Income Source : Zara

Net worth: $77.3 Billion

The guy who’s behind the big fashion retail company Inditex, which you might know for its Zara stores, has been having a really good run. The value of the company’s stock went up by a huge 39% in just one year. Why? Well, they’ve been selling a ton, and their earnings for the year that ended on January 31, 2023, went up by 18%, hitting almost $35 billion in total. All this success added almost $18 billion to the guy’s wealth since last year.

And there’s more good news! His daughter, Marta Ortega, took on a big role. She’s now the chair of Inditex, which is pretty cool. It’s like keeping things in the family and making sure the fashion empire is in good hands.

14. Sergey Brin

Age: 49

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Google

Net worth: $76 Billion

Remember the guy who, along with his buddy Larry Page, co-founded Google? Well, back in 2019, they decided to step away from the day-to-day stuff at the company. But now, it looks like he might be making a bit of a return. There’s a hint in January that he’s been working on some computer code – something he hadn’t done in a while. And word is, he’s been helping out with Google’s AI chatbot too.

Money-wise, he sold more than $2.5 billion worth of shares in Alphabet (that’s Google’s parent company) between May 2021 and April 2022. But lately, he’s been giving his shares away as gifts instead. And he’s got a big heart too – he’s donated a whopping $1.1 billion for research on Parkinson’s disease. It’s like he’s a tech genius with a kind side.

15. Zhong Shanshan

Age: 68

Citizenship: China

Income Source : Beverages, pharmaceuticals

Net worth: $68 Billion

The person in China who’s known as the “king” of bottled water is holding onto his title as the richest person in the country for the third time in a row. He made money because of his company called Nongfu Spring which makes drinks, and this balanced out a drop in the value of his other company, Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy. You see, when China started to ease the restrictions related to the pandemic at the end of the year, his Covid test business didn’t do as well. But his drink company helped keep his riches intact.

16. Mark Zuckerberg

Age: 38

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Facebook 

Net worth: $64.4 Billion

Among 25 Richest Person, Unlike lots of other big tech creators, Zuckerberg is still the boss as the CEO. But it’s been a bit of a challenge, especially with all the fancy AI competition and job losses in the tech world. You know, his company Meta Platforms had to cut down 21,000 jobs since November – that’s a big number.

On the brighter side, he and his wife have a charity thing called the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative. They’re really into trying to find ways to help cure or control all sorts of diseases. And guess what? They recently shared the news in March about a cool new project called the Chicago Biohub. It’s like they’re working on making the world a better place, both in tech and in health.

17. Charles Koch

Age: 87 | Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Koch Industries

Net worth: $59 Billion

18. Julia Koch & family

Age: 60

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Koch Industries

Net worth: $59 Billion

Big changes are happening at Koch Industries, a really huge company based in Wichita, Kansas. They made about $125 billion in sales last year! So, what’s new? Well, in March 2022, they said they’re going to organize some of their smaller parts in a different way.

Here’s the scoop: The main person in charge, Charles Koch, shared that he’s getting a partner to be co-CEO with him. This is a big deal because he’s been running things on his own for 55 whole years! And there’s more interesting stuff – a lady named Julia Koch, who’s the widow of Charles’ brother David (who passed away in 2019), got a special role. She’s now a trustee at the famous Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York. It’s like they’re making changes in their business and their family life too.

19. Jim Walton

Age: 74

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source : Walmart 

Net worth: $58.8 Billion

20. Rob Walton

Age: 78

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source: Walmart

Net worth: $57.6 Billion

21. Alice Walton

Age: 73 | Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source: Walmart

Net worth: $56.7 Billion

For a really long time, the kids of the person who helped start Walmart held onto their family’s company shares like they were treasures. But things have changed recently. Over the last year, they’ve actually sold quite a bit of these shares – about $1.8 billion worth.

Now, something interesting happened with one of them. A guy named Rob Walton used some of the money from selling these shares to buy the Denver Broncos, a football team, for a huge amount – around $4.7 billion. But, even though he made this big investment, the team didn’t do so well on the field. They didn’t make it to the NFL playoffs as everyone expected. It’s like sometimes even big moves don’t always go as planned.

22. David Thomson & family

Age: 65

Citizenship: Canada

Income Source: Media 

Net worth: $54.4 Billion

The person in Canada who has the most money got even richer last year – he added another $5.2 billion to his pile of cash. How’d he do it? Well, he’s got a big chunk, about 68%, of a company called Thomson Reuters. The cool thing is that the value of this company went up by 17% kind of like when something you own becomes more valuable.

And there’s more interesting stuff! This company, based in Toronto, does a lot of things like news and information. But they’re also getting into high-tech stuff like artificial intelligence (AI). For example, they bought a company called SurePrep that makes automated tax software. They spent around $500 million on it in January. It’s like they’re using their money to invest in the future.

23. Michael Dell

Age: 58

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source: Dell Technologies

Net worth: $50.1 Billion

The person who leads Dell, you know, the computer company, is not as rich this year – he’s got $5 billion less in his wallet. This happened because the value of Dell Technologies, the company’s stock, went down by about 27%.

            But here’s something interesting: even though his personal wealth took a hit, his family’s special office turned into a pretty big investment and advice company. They’re called MSD Partners and they handle more than $12 billion in assets. And guess what? They joined forces with another rich person’s company called BDT & Co. That happened in October, and it’s like they’re teaming up to do even bigger things together.

24. Gautam Adani

Age: 60

Citizenship: India

Income Source: Infrastructure, commodities

Net worth: $47.2 Billion

Back on January 24, Adani was actually the third wealthiest person globally, with his riches amounting to nearly $126 billion. But guess what happened? Later that same day, things took a turn. A report from a group called Hindenburg Research, which looks into stock stuff, came out. And because of that report, the value of the companies he’s involved in went way down. It’s like his financial situation had a little roller coaster ride.

25. Phil Knight & family

Age: 85

Citizenship: U.S.

Income Source: Nike

Net worth: $45.1 Billion

In the list of 25 Richest Person, Knight, the person who started Nike back in 1964 with just $500, is still getting some really nice rewards. He made about $400 million (before taxes) in the last year, just from his ownership in the company. You see, he owns a big part of the company – about 25%.

There were a few challenges, though. Some problems with getting the supplies they needed and the Covid stuff in China caused the value of Nike’s shares to go down a little, about 3%.