Business Magazine, Forbes, has published a list of the world’s richest billionaires. The compilation chronicled 2,095 people but our focus is mainly on the top 10 of the list. Most of those in the top 10 have made their money in the tech sector.
Jeff Bezos, Larry Ellison, Bill Gates, Mark Zuckerberg, and Warren Buffett all made the list of the 10 overall richest people. Four of these billionaires have made their money from the tech companies they founded, while Warren Buffett, through his company, invests in tech and other companies.
Jeff Bezos
Jeff Bezos is the world’s richest man with $113 billion. He is the Founder, CEO, and President of multi-national tech company, Amazon. He is the Founder of Blue Origin, a human spaceflight startup. Bezos bought The Washington Post in 2018 and he is one of the earliest shareholders at Google. Bezos invests in other ventures through his venture capital arm, Bezos Expeditions. He is the world’s richest man for the third year in a row.
Bill Gates
Bill Gates is the second richest man with a net worth of $98 billion. Gates is the co-Founder of The Microsoft Corporation. As at November 2019, his net worth was estimated at $107.1 billion. His current worth shows a reduction of $9.1 billion from his November evaluation.
He recently resigned from the boards of Microsoft board and Berkshire Hathaway in order to focus more on philanthropic activities. He and his wife, Melinda Gates, are founders of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
Bernard Arnault
Arnault is the 3rd richest man with a net worth of $76 billion. He is the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of LVMH, Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE. He was the richest man in the world on January 17 when LVMH stocks rose by 0.7%, putting his valuation at $117 billion.
Jeff Bezos reclaimed the first position on January 21 when Amazon stock rose by 0.5%, and put his valuation at $116.1 billion. Arnault’s net worth dropped by $3.7 billion, and is currently evaluated at $76 billion by Forbes.
Warren Buffett
Warren Buffett is the 4th richest man in the world with a net worth of $67.5 billion. He is the CEO and Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway, a multinational holding company that owns Duracell, Fruit of the Loom, Dairy Queen, Lubrizol, NetJets, and Helzberg Diamonds among others.
As at December 2019, his net worth was evaluated to be $88.9 billion. His current valuation shows a decrease of $21.4 billion. He dropped to the 4th richest man from his previous position of number 3.
Larry Ellison
Lawrence Joseph Ellison is the 5th richest man with a net worth of $59 billion. He is the co-Founder, Chairman, and Chief Technology Officer of Oracle Corporation. His net worth in December 2019 was $69.1 billion, showing an increase from $54.5 billion in 2018. This put him in the 6th position on the list of wealthiest people in the world.
His current valuation shows a decrease of $10.1 billion which places him in the overall 5th position.
Amancio Ortega
Spanish businessman, Amancio Ortega, is the 6th richest man with a net worth of $55.1 billion. He is the founder of Inditex Fashion Group which owns Zara, a clothing and accessories retailer brand. His valuation in December 2019 was $68.3 billion, showing a decrease of $13.2 billion in his current net worth.
Mark Zuckerberg
Zuckerberg is the 7th richest billionaire in the world with a net worth of $54.7 billion. He is the co-founder of Facebook Inc and the youngest billionaire in the list of the top 10 richest people.
The Waltons
Jim Walton, Alice Walton, and Rob Walton complete the list of top 10 richest people in the world. The three Waltons are heirs to Sam Walton, the founder of Walmart.
Jim Walton is the 8th richest person in the world and the youngest of the Walton siblings. His net worth is $54.7 billion.
Alice Walton is the 9th richest in the world and the only female in the top ten. Her net worth is $54.4 billion, making her the wealthiest woman in the world.
Rob Walton is the 10th richest person and the eldest of the Walton siblings. He has a net worth of $54.1 billion.
The net worth of all 2,095 billionaires amounts to $8 trillion. This is a drop from the $8.7 trillion for 2019. The Covid-19 pandemic affected many enterprises negatively while others were affected positively. Jeff Bezos (Amazon) and Eric Yuan (Zoom) are two billionaires that have greatly benefited from the pandemic.
People shopped from Amazon more during the COVID pandemic because of the lockdown. With many other businesses forced to shut down, essential products like groceries became scarce. Zoom saw a massive uptake in use because more people now use its platform for virtual meetings in order to keep a social distance from others.
Nigerians made the list as well. Aliko Dangote came in 162nd position with $8.3 billion while Mike Adenuga and Abudlsamad Rabiu made 286th and 712th positions with $5.6 billion and $2.9 billion respectively.