There’s rich. And then there’s world’s richest people rich.
To make it into the latter group, you now need a net worth of at least $19.8 billion.
Using the calculations from the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, we put together a list of the 50 richest
people in the world.
Bloomberg updates its data at the close of every trading day in New York, and our list is based on the
latest data available for February 15. Since Bloomberg News doesn’t report on Bloomberg LP, we added
him using his estimated net worth from Forbes.
The majority of the Billionaires on the list are self-made self-starters who built business empires in tech,
finance, fashion, and sports. A few inherited stakes in their family’s companies.
From tech tycoons to luxury car heiresses, here are the 50 richest people on earth.
Elena Holodny contributed to a previous version of this article.
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Tadashi Yanai is the founder and president of Fast Retailing, which owns retailer Uniqlo.
Vladimir Potanin started his private investment company Interros in the early 1990s, which is invested in
mining, metals, energy, finance, and real estate, Interros owns 30% of the Russian nickel company
Norilsk Nickel.
Potanin has served as the President of the united Export Import Bank, the first Deputy Prime Minister of
the Russian Federation, and currently heads the National Council on Corporate Governance.
Robert Kuok is Malaysian-Chinese businessman who has massive businesses in Malaysia, Hong Kong and
Singapore in areas such as sugar, palm oil, hotels and trading among others.
His businesses are primarily-held by him and his family and kuok is notoriously media-shy.
Lakshmi Mittal is the CEO of ArcelorMittal, the world’s largest steelmaker. His father, Mohanlal Mittal,
ran a steel company, but Mittal founded his own steel factory in Indonesia in1976. Mittal Steel merged
with Luxembourg-based Arcelor in 2006, It now produces 10% of the world’s steel.
Lee Kun Hee is the chairman of Samsung Electronics, which is known for its consumer electronics
division. He remains hospitalized after suffering a heart attack in 2014.
Alexey Mardashov is a Russian oligarch who built his fortune as steel company Severstal’s majority
shareholder. He was the company’s CEO for 19 years until 2015. He also has stakes in mining, media,
banking, telecom, and recently, technology.
Elon Musk is the CEO of Tesla, which makes electric cars. He’s also the CEO of SpaceX and founded
OpenAI and Neuralink.
Soviet-born American Len Blavatnik founded Access Industries in 1986. It began with only Russian
Investments, but now includes a diverse portfolio. He purchased a 20% stake in Tory Burch, now a retail
powerhouse, in 2004, becoming the first and largest outside investor in the company.
Michael Dell started PC Ltd., the predecessor to Dell Inc., while he was a premed student in 1984. He
dropped out of college to build computers full time, and the company went public by the time he was
23.
Thomas Peterffy is the chairman, CEO and founder of Interactive Brokers Group, a huge electronic
broker.
Yang Hriyan controls Chinese real estate developer Country Garden Holdings. According to Bloomberg,
her father co-hounded the company in 1992 and then transferred his stake to her in 2005.
Stefan Quandt inherited a stake in Bayerische Motoren Werke, which owns BMW and Rolls-Royce,
Leonardo del Vecchio started Luxottica, the eyewear powerhouse, in 1961i= in Milan , It owns Sunglass
Hut, Ray-Ban, and Oakley, and manufacturers glasses for a large number of luxury brands.
Dieter Schwarz joined his father’s business in 1973 and soon opened the company’s first discount
supermarket. After his father died, he took over as CEO and expanded the business outside of Germany.
The company operates Lidl, a grocery-store chain, and Kaufland, which is similar to Walmart.
Giovanni Ferroro controls Ferrero SpA, which makes Ferrero chocolates, Nutella, Kinder chocolates and
Tic Tacs.
Lee Shau Kee hounded Henderson and Development, which grew into a top real-estate developer in
Hong Kong and China, in 1973.
Suaanne Klatten inherited a stake in Bayerische Motoren Werke, which owns BMW and Rolls-Royce.
Serge Dassault is the CEO of Dassault Group, which has a controlling stake in military jet maker Dassault
Aviation.
After serving in the German military and working in corporate law stateside, Georg Schaeffler joined his
father’s company Schaeffler Group, which manufactures ball bearings for auto, aerospace, and industrial
use. He is the chair and majority owner.
Paul Allen, Microsoft co-founder, left the company before it went public. He remained a board member
until 2000, and reduce his stake in the firm over time. He also founded Vulcan, his private investment
vehicle.
Ftancois Pinalut founded luxury foods group Kering, which controls Gucci and Puma, among others.
Wang Jianlin is the founder and chairman of conglomerate Dalian Wanda Group, which has interests in a
large number of companies, including property development, department stores, and entertainment.
Jorge Lemann worked as a journalist and professional tennis player before jumping into finance in 1971.
He co-founded 3G Capital in 2004 and has become known for his affinity for merges and acquisitions.
Back in the 1960s, Phil Knight started a company that distributed Japanese sneakers in the US under the
name Blue Ribbon Sports ___ which was the predecessor to Nike. He transformed a passion for running
into a full blown sneaker and celebrity athletes empire.
Hui chairs China Evergrande Group, a property developer that has worked on hundreds of projects
across nearly 200 cities in China.
Sibling John, Jacqueline, and the late-Forrest Mars inherited a stake in Mars, Ins. After their father died
in 1999. The siblings are notoriously private, and don’t actively mange the candy maker company. But
they do tun the Mars Foundation, which gives primarily to educational, environmental, cultural, and
health-related causes.
Li Ka-shing dropped out of school at 16 to support his family by working in a factory making plastic
flowers. He opened his own factory six years later----- the predecessor to today’s CK Hutchinson
Holdings, which has interests in real estate, energy, and telecoms.
Steve Ballmer dropped out of business school at Stanford to become Microsoft’s first business manager
with a salary of $50000 and a stake in the company. He eventually became CEO after Bill Gates stepped
down and held the post until Staya Nadella replaced him in 2014.
Sheldon Adelson and partners developed Computer Dealer’s Exhibition, one of the largest trade shows
in as Vegas. He sold the company to Japan’s Softbank for $860 million in 1995, and used the money to
finance his purchase of the Sands Casino. He demolished that, and built the Venetian Casino Resort and
the Sands Expo Convention Center in its place. In 2015, he bought Nevada’s largest newspaper.
After his father died in 2002, Mukesh Ambani took over as chairman of Reliance Industries. He now
controls about 40% of the company, which owns the world’s largest oil refining complex.
Ma Huateng, also known as Pony Ma, founded Tencent Holding, which has a number of Internet and
communication platforms in its portfolio, in 1998 when he was 26. Among others, its platforms include
WeChat and QQ.
Francoise Betterncourt Meyers is now the heiress to the L’Oreal cosmetics fortune after her mother’s
death in September 2017. She controls 33% of the company, according to Bloomberg.
Alice Walton is the youngest heir to Helen and Sam Walton’s Walmart fortune. She hasn’t taken an
active role in running the superstore empire, but she co-manages Walton Enterprises, one of the
family’s two holding companies.
David Koch runs Koch Industries as executive vice president with his brother, Charles. Koch Industries
manufactures, refines, and distributes a wide range of things, including chemicals, energy, minerals, and
more.
Charles Koch tuns Koch Industries as chairman and CEO with his brother, David. In addition to their
conglomerate, the two brothers are major political influencers.
