The list of the world’s richest persons can vary from year to year, depending on their latest net worth and financial performance. Here is the latest list of the world’s top 10 richest persons, based on the real-time Bloomberg billionaires Index of May 22, 2023 and some interesting facts about each of them. The 10 Richest People in the World
The individuals on this list belong to an even more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many are founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the companies they started.
These billionaires can, however, still borrow against that wealth to avoid selling stock, deferring (or eliminating for heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains in the process. Multi-billionaires can also take advantage of a panoply of tax deductions to offset reported income, leaving some on this list paying no income tax in recent years.
The World’s Billionaires is an annual ranking of people who are considered to have a net worth of $1 billion or more, by the American business magazine Forbes. The list was first published in March 1987. The total net worth of each individual on the list is estimated and is cited in United States dollars, based on their documented assets and accounting for debt and other factors. Royalty and dictators whose wealth comes from their positions are excluded from these lists. This ranking is an index of the wealthiest documented individuals, excluding any ranking of those with wealth that is not able to be completely ascertained.
In 2018, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos was ranked at the top for the first time and became the first centibillionaire included in the ranking, surpassing Microsoft founder Bill Gates, who had topped the list 18 of the previous 24 years. In 2022, after topping the list for four years, Bezos was surpassed by Elon Musk. In 2023, Musk was in turn surpassed by French businessman Bernard Arnault, after topping the list for just a year. Arnault became the first French person to top the list.
Here are the The 10 Richest People in the World
1. Bernard Arnault
Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French business magnate, investor, and art collector. He is the founder, chairman, and chief executive officer of LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton, the world’s largest luxury goods company.
- Age: 74
- Residence: Paris
- CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY)
- Net Worth: $206 billion
- Christian Dior Ownership Stake: 97.5% ($161 billion total)
- Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($32.5 billion public asset) and $12.5 billion in cash
2. Elon Musk
Elon Reeve Musk FRS is a business magnate and investor. He is the founder, CEO and chief engineer of SpaceX; angel investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; owner and CEO of Twitter; founder of the Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink and OpenAI; and president of the philanthropic Musk Foundation.
- Age: 51
- Residence: Texas
- Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
- Net Worth: $165 billion3
- Tesla Ownership Stake: 13% ($67.5 billion)
- Twitter Ownership Stake: 79% ($9.65 billion)
- Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($48.9 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset
3. Jeff Bezos
Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American entrepreneur, media proprietor, investor, and commercial astronaut. He is the founder, executive chairman, and former president and CEO of Amazon, the world’s largest e-commerce and cloud computing company.
- Age: 59
- Residence: Washington
- Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN)
- Net Worth: $129 billion
- Amazon Ownership Stake: 10% ($105 billion)
- Other Assets: Blue Origin ($11.2 billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million private asset), and $13.4 billion in cash
4. Bill Gates
William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is best known for co-founding software giant Microsoft, along with his late childhood friend Paul Allen.
- Age: 67
- Residence: Washington
- Co-founder: Microsoft (MSFT)
- Net Worth: $125 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.4% ($31.6 billion)
- Other Assets: $60 billion in cash and billions over multiple other companies
5. Warren Buffett
Warren Edward Buffett is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. He is currently the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway.
- Age: 92
- Residence: Nebraska
- CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
- Net Worth: $115 billion
- Berkshire Hathaway Ownership Stake: 14% ($114 billion)
- Other Assets: $1.2 billion in cash
6. Steve Ballmer
Steven Anthony Ballmer is an American billionaire businessman and investor who served as the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.
- Age: 67
- Residence: Washington
- Owner: Los Angeles Clippers
- Net Worth: $107 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 4% ($98.1 billion total)
- Other Assets: Los Angeles Clippers ($3.73 billion private asset), Intuit Dome ($2 billion), $3.05 billion in cash
7. Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison is an American business magnate and investor. He is the co-founder, executive chairman, chief technology officer and former chief executive officer of the American computer technology company Oracle Corporation.
- Age: 78
- Residence: Hawaii
- Co-founder, Chair, and CTO: Oracle (ORCL)
- Net Worth: $107 billion
- Oracle Ownership Stake: 42%+ ($79.4 billion)
- Other Assets: Tesla equity ($7.4 billion public asset), $19.2 billion in cash
8. Larry Page
Lawrence Edward Page is an American business magnate, computer scientist and internet entrepreneur. He is best known for co-founding Google with Sergey Brin.
- Age: 50
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $99.1 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($84 billion total)
- Other Assets: $15.2 billion in cash
9. Francoise Bettencourt Meyers
Françoise Bettencourt Meyers is a French businesswoman, philanthropist, writer, pianist, billionaire heiress, and the richest woman in the world, with an estimated net worth of US$87.4 billion as of March 2022, according to Forbes.
- Age: 69
- Residence: France
- Chairwoman: Tethys, which owns 33.3% of L’Oréal (LRLCY)
- Net Worth: $95 billion
- L’Oréal Ownership Stake: 33.3% ($88.5 billion total)
- Other Assets: $6.48 billion in cash
10. Sergey Brin
Sergey Mikhailovich Brin is an American business magnate who co-founded Google with Larry Page. Brin was the president of Google’s parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on December 3, 2019. He and Page remain at Alphabet as co-founders, controlling shareholders and board members.
- Age: 49
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $94.8 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($79.5 billion total)
- Other Assets: $15.3 billion in cash
