When it comes to wealth, some individuals have managed to amass fortunes that are beyond imagination. In 2023, the world is home to a select group of individuals who have reached unprecedented levels of financial success. Let's take a closer look at the 50 richest people in the world and explore how they have achieved such remarkable wealth.
#50 Stephen Schwarzman
Net Worth: $27.8B
Age: 76
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Investments
Industry: Finance & Investments
The son of a dry goods store owner, Stephen Schwarzman founded private equity firm Blackstone with fellow billionaire Peter Peterson in 1985. Initially a boutique merger-and-acquisition advisory business, Blackstone grew into the world’s largest buyout firm, with $941 billion in assets.
#49 Jim Simons
Net Worth: $28.1B
Age: 84
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Hedge Funds
Industry: Finance & Investments
Jim Simons is the founder of Renaissance Technologies, an esteemed quantitative trading hedge fund firm that manages about $50 billion. He founded Renaissance Technologies in 1982 and retired in 2010, but he still plays a role at Renaissance and benefits from its funds.
#48 Jeff Yass
Net Worth: $28.5B
Age: 64
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Trading, Investments
Industry: Finance & Investments
Yass is a cofounder of Susquehanna International Group, one of Wall Street’s largest and most successful trading firms. He went to SUNY Binghamton, became a pro gambler, then began trading on the Philadelphia Stock Exchange in 1981 backed by billionaire Israel Englander. In 1987, he cofounded Susquehanna with a handful of partners; it’s now a giant in options trading and making markets, with 2,000 employees worldwide.
#47 Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $29.5B
Age: 95
Country/Territory: Hong Kong
Source: Real Estate
Industry: Real Estate
Lee Shau Kee cofounded property developer Sun Hung Kai with Kwok Tak-Seng, the late father of Hong Kong’s billionaire Kwok brothers. He started Henderson Land Development in 1976; the property giant now makes up the bulk of his wealth. In 2019, he stepped down as chairman of Henderson Land and appointed his sons, Martin and Peter, as co-chairmen.
#47 Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $29.5B
Age: 95
Country/Territory: Hong Kong
Source: Real Estate
Industry: Real Estate
Lee Shau Kee cofounded property developer Sun Hung Kai with Kwok Tak-Seng, the late father of Hong Kong’s billionaire Kwok brothers. He started Henderson Land Development in 1976; the property giant now makes up the bulk of his wealth. In 2019, he stepped down as chairman of Henderson Land and appointed his sons, Martin and Peter, as co-chairmen.
#46 Reinhold Wuerth & family
Net Worth: $29.7B
Age: 87
Country/Territory: Germany
Source: Fasteners
Industry: Manufacturing
Reinhold Wuerth entered his father’s wholesale screw business in 1949, at age 14, as the company’s second employee and first apprentice. He took the reins in 1954 and honed a competitive advantage by delivering goods directly to customers on construction sites and in mechanical shops.
#45 Colin Zheng Huang
Net Worth: $30.2B
Age: 43
Country/Territory: China
Source: E-commerce
Industry: Technology
Colin Huang is the founder of PDD Holdings, the Chinese e-commerce company that changed its name from Pinduoduo in February 2023. Huang, who stepped down as chairman of the company in March 2021, owns nearly 28% of PDD Holdings. PDD launched budget shopping site Temu in September 2022 to compete with Shein, led by fellow Chinese billionaire Chris Xu.
#43 Rafaela Aponte-Diamant (Tie)
Net Worth: $31.2B
Country/Territory: Switzerland
Source: Shipping
Industry: Logistics
Rafaela Aponte-Diamant and her husband Gianluigi each own a 50% stake in MSC, the world’s largest shipping line. Rafaela first met Gianluigi on a trip to the Italian island of Capri in the 1960s, when Gianluigi was a ship captain. They entered the shipping industry together in 1970, when they purchased a ship with a $200,000 loan.
#43 Gianluigi Aponte (Tie)
Net Worth: $31.2B
Age: 82
Country/Territory: Switzerland
Source: Shipping
Industry: Logistics
Gianluigi Aponte and his wife Rafaela each own a 50% stake in MSC, the world’s largest shipping line. Gianluigi first met Rafaela on a trip to the Italian island of Capri in the 1960s, when he was a ship captain. They entered the shipping industry together in 1970, when they purchased a ship with a $200,000 loan.
#41 Gerard Wertheimer (Tie)
Net Worth: $31.6B
Age: 72
Country/Territory: France
Source: Chanel
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Gerard Wertheimer and his brother Alain own French luxury brand Chanel. Gerard heads the company’s watch division and lives in Switzerland.
#41 Alain Wertheimer (Tie)
Net Worth: $31.6B
Age: 74
Country/Territory: France
Source: Chanel
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Alain Wertheimer is the chairman of Chanel, the French luxury brand. He owns the company with this brother Gerard, who oversees the watch division. His grandfather Pierre Wertheimer founded it with Gabrielle (Coco) Chanel, the company’s namesake.
#40 Len Blavatnik
Net Worth: $32.1B
Age: 65
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Music, Chemicals
Industry: Diversified
Born in Ukraine, raised north of Moscow, Len Blavatnik immigrated to the U.S. in 1978 with his family; he studied computer science at Columbia University and received an MBA from Harvard Business School. He made an early fortune from Russian oil company TNK-BP, including billions in dividends paid by the joint venture and the sale of his stake in 2013 for $7 billion.
#39 Tadashi Yanai & family
Net Worth: $32.6B
Age: 74
Country/Territory: Japan
Source: Fashion Retail
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Tadashi Yanai built and runs Tokyo-listed retail clothing empire Fast Retailing, parent of the Uniqlo chain. Fast Retailing’s other brands include Theory, Helmut Lang, J Brand and GU. The company reported net profit of $1.2 billion on revenue of $17 billion for the fiscal year ended August 2022.
#38 Robin Zeng
Net Worth: $33.4B
Age: 54
Country/Territory: Hong Kong
Source: Batteries
Industry: Automotive
Robin Zeng is the founder and chairman of Contemporary Amperex Technology (CATL), one of the world’s largest suppliers of batteries for electric vehicles. CATL, which listed on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2018, supplies batteries to such automakers as BMW, Volkswagen and Geely.
#37 Mark Mateschitz
Net Worth: $34.7B
Age: 30
Country/Territory: Austria
Source: Red Bull
Industry: Food & Beverage
Mark Mateschitz is the only child of the late Austrian billionaire Dietrich Mateschitz, who cofounded energy drink firm Red Bull in 1987. He inherited his father’s 49% stake in Red Bull after the elder Mateschitz died in October 2022 at the age of 78.
#35 Ken Griffin (Tie)
Net Worth: $35B
Age: 54
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Hedge Funds
Industry: Finance & Investments
Ken Griffin founded and runs Citadel, a Miami-based hedge fund firm that manages roughly $57 billion in assets. He founded Citadel in 1990 but first began trading from his Harvard dorm in 1987. He put a satellite dish on the roof to get real-time stock quotes.
#35 Miriam Adelson & family (Tie)
Net Worth: $35B
Age: 77
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Casinos
Industry: Gambling & Casinos
Miriam Adelson is the widow of Sheldon Adelson, the former CEO and chairman of casino company Las Vegas Sands, who died at 87 in 2021. She now owns more than half of the New York Stock Exchange-listed gambling empire, which has casinos in Singapore and Macao.
#34 Ma Huateng
Net Worth: $35.3B
Age: 51
Country/Territory: China
Source: Internet Media
Industry: Technology
Ma Huateng (also known as Pony Ma) chairs Chinese internet giant Tencent Holdings. Tencent’s popular social messaging app WeChat has 1.3 billion users. Tencent, which owns a stake in U.S. videogame company Epic Games, is one of the largest videogame publishers in the world.
#33 Li Ka-shing
Net Worth: $38B
Age: 94
Country/Territory: Hong Kong
Source: Diversified
Industry: Diversified
Nicknamed Superman, Li Ka-shing is revered as one of the most influential businessmen in Asia. Li retired as chairman of CK Hutchison Holdings and CK Asset Holdings in May 2018 but remains senior advisor. At the announcement of his retirement, Li joked that he’d been “working for a long time, too long.”
#31 John Mars (Tie)
Net Worth: $38.3B
Age: 87
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Candy, Pet Food
Industry: Food & Beverage
John and his siblings Jacqueline and Forrest Jr. (died July 2016) inherited stakes in the candy firm Mars when their father died in 1999. He and Jacqueline each own an estimated one-third of the company. His late brother Forrest Jr.’s four daughters own the rest.
#31 Jacqueline Mars (Tie)
Net Worth: $38.3B
Age: 83
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Candy, Pet Food
Industry: Food & Beverage
Jacqueline Mars owns an estimated one-third of Mars, the world’s largest candymaker, founded by her grandfather. She worked for the company for nearly 20 years and served on the board until 2016. Her son Stephen Badger is on Mars’ board of directors.
#30 Giovanni Ferrero
Net Worth: $38.9B
Age: 58
Country/Territory: Italy
Source: Nutella, Chocolates
Industry: Food & Beverage
Giovanni Ferrero is executive chairman of his family’s namesake confections business, which posted $15 billion sales in 2022. The firm is best known for its iconic Nutella chocolate-hazelnut spread, Kinder chocolates and Tic Tac mints.
#29 Klaus-Michael Kuehne
Net Worth: $39.1B
Age: 85
Country/Territory: Germany
Source: Shipping
Industry: Logistics
Logistics magnate Klaus-Michael Kuehne is honorary chairman of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, based in Schindellegi, Switzerland. He joined the company, cofounded by his grandfather, in 1958, eventually taking over as CEO in 1966.
#28 François Pinault & family
Net Worth: $40.1B
Age: 86
Country/Territory: France
Source: Luxury Goods
Industry: Fashion & Retail
François Pinault is honorary chairman of luxury group Kering, which owns fashion brands Saint Laurent, Alexander McQueen and Gucci. Pinault founded Kering, which started as a wood and building materials company, in 1963. In 1999, Pinault changed the direction of the business toward luxury goods when he bought a controlling stake in Gucci Group.
#27 Dieter Schwarz
Net Worth: $42.9B
Age: 83
Country/Territory: Germany
Source: Retail
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Dieter Schwarz’s Schwarz Group, with revenue of over $140 billion, is comprised of the Kaufland and Lidl (rhymes with needle) discount supermarkets. Schwarz inherited the company from his father, Josef, who became a partner in Suedfruechte Grosshandel Lidl & Co., a fruit wholesaler, in 1930.
#26 Zhang Yiming
Net Worth: $45B
Age: 39
Country/Territory: China
Source: TikTok
Industry: Technology
Zhang Yiming is the main founder of Chinese tech giant ByteDance, best known for its insanely popular app TikTok, which has more than 1 billion users worldwide. Zhang stepped down as chairman of ByteDance in November 2021 after resigning as CEO in May that year, reportedly under pressure from the Chinese government.
#25 Phil Knight & family
Net Worth: $45.1B
Age: 85
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Nike
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Phil Knight, founder of shoe giant Nike, retired as chairman in June 2016 after 52 years at the company. Knight ran track at the University of Oregon and created Nike shoes with his former track coach, Bill Bowerman. In 1964, they each put up $500 to start what would become Nike, then called Blue Ribbon Sports.
#24 Gautam Adani
Net Worth: $47.2B
Age: 60
Country/Territory: India
Source: Infrastructure, Commodities
Industry: Diversified
Gautam Adani is chairman of the $32 billion (revenue) Adani Group, with interests in ports, airports, power generation and transmission, green energy, among others. The Adani Group, which began in 1988 as a commodities trading firm, expanded through acquisitions and with the support of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
#23 Michael Dell
Net Worth: $50.1B
Age: 58
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Dell Technologies
Industry: Technology
Michael Dell is the chairman and CEO of Dell Technologies, which was formed in 2016 when Dell merged with computer storage giant EMC. The estimated $60 billion Dell-EMC merger, which was finalized in 2016, was the largest technology acquisition ever. In late 2018 Dell Technologies returned to public markets through a complicated financial restructuring.
#22 David Thomson & family
Net Worth: $54.4B
Age: 65
Country/Territory: Canada
Source: Media
Industry: Media & Entertainment
David Thomson and his family control a media and publishing empire founded by his grandfather Roy Thomson. The family’s biggest holding: more than 320 million shares of Thomson Reuters, where Thomson serves as chairman.
#21 Alice Walton
Net Worth: $56.7B
Age: 73
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Walmart
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Alice Walton is the only daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton. She has focused on curating art, rather than working for Walmart like her siblings, Rob and Jim. In 2011, she opened the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in her hometown of Bentonville, Arkansas.
#20 Rob Walton
Net Worth: $57.6B
Age: 78
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Walmart
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Rob Walton is the eldest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. Walton took over as chairman upon his father’s death in 1992. He retired as chairman in June 2015 and was replaced by his son-in-law, Greg Penner. Penner still sits on Walmart’s board.
#19 Jim Walton
Net Worth: $58.8B
Age: 74
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Walmart
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Jim Walton is the youngest son of Walmart founder Sam Walton. He is chairman of the family’s Arvest Bank, which boasts assets of more than $20 billion. Jim sat on Walmart’s board for more than a decade before yielding the seat to his son, Steuart, in June 2016.
#17 Julia Koch & family (Tie)
Net Worth: $59B
Age: 60
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Koch Industries
Industry: Diversified
Julia Koch and her three children inherited a 42% stake in Koch Industries from her husband, David, who died in August 2019 at age 79. An Iowa native, Koch moved to New York City in the 1980s and worked as an assistant to fashion designer Adolfo
#17 Charles Koch (Tie)
Net Worth: $59B
Age: 87
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Koch Industries
Industry: Diversified
Charles Koch has been chairman and CEO of Koch Industries, America’s second largest private company by revenue, since 1967. The diversified company has some $125 billion in revenues from businesses including pipelines, chemicals, software, automotive components and Dixie cups. His father, Fred Koch, improved a method of refining heavy oil into gasoline in 1927 and started the family business in 1940.
#16 Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $64.4B
Age: 38
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Facebook
Industry: Technology
Zuckerberg started Facebook at Harvard in 2004 at the age of 19 for students to match names with photos of classmates. He took Facebook public in May 2012; he now owns about 13% of the company’s stock. Facebook changed its name to Meta in November 2021 to shift the company’s focus to the metaverse.
#15 Zhong Shanshan
Net Worth: $68B
Age: 68
Country/Territory: China
Source: Beverages, Pharmaceuticals
Industry: Food & Beverage
Zhong Shanshan is founder and chairman of Nongfu Spring, a bottled water company that listed its shares in Hong Kong in September 2020. Hangzhou-born Zhong dropped out of elementary school during China’s chaotic Cultural Revolution. He later had jobs as a construction worker, a newspaper reporter and a beverage sales agent before starting his own business.
#14 Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $76B
Age: 49
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Google
Industry: Technology
Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in December 2019 but remains a controller shareholder and a board member. Brin moved to the U.S. from Russia when he was 6 years old in the wake of anti-Semitism against his family.
#13 Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $77.3B
Age: 87
Country/Territory: Spain
Source: Zara
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Amancio Ortega of Spain is one of the wealthiest clothing retailers in the world. A pioneer in fast fashion, he cofounded Inditex, known for its Zara fashion chain, with his ex-wife Rosalia Mera (d. 2013) in 1975. He owns about 60% of Madrid-listed Inditex, which has 8 brands, including Massimo Dutti and Pull & Bear, and 7,500 stores around the world.
#12 Larry Page
Net Worth: $79.2B
Age: 50
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Google
Industry: Technology
Larry Page stepped down as CEO of Alphabet, the parent of Google, in December 2019 but remains a board member and a controlling shareholder. He cofounded Google in 1998 with fellow Stanford Ph.D. student Sergey Brin. With Brin, Page invented Google’s PageRank algorithm, which powers the search engine.
#11 Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family
Net Worth: $80.5B
Age: 69
Country/Territory: France
Source: L’Oréal
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers, the granddaughter of the founder of L’Oreal, is the richest woman in the world. Bettencourt Meyers and her family own around 33% of L’Oreal stock. She has served on L’Oreal’s board since 1997 and is chairwoman of the family holding company.
#10 Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $80.7B
Age: 67
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Microsoft
Industry: Technology
Steve Ballmer is the high-wattage former CEO of Microsoft, who led the company from 2000 to 2014. He joined Microsoft in 1980 as employee No. 30 after dropping out of Stanford’s MBA program. Ballmer oversaw Microsoft after the first dot-com crash and through efforts to catch up to Google in search capabilities and Apple in mobile phones.
#9 Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $83.4B
Age: 65
Country/Territory: India
Source: Diversified
Industry: Diversified
Mukesh Ambani chairs and runs $104 billion (revenue) Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom and retail. Reliance was founded by his late father Dhirubhai Ambani, a yarn trader, in 1966 as a small textile manufacturer. After his father’s death in 2002, Ambani and his younger sibling Anil divvied up the family empire.
#8 Carlos Slim Helu & family
Net Worth: $93B
Age: 83
Country/Territory: Mexico
Source: Telecom
Industry: Telecom
Mexico’s richest man, Carlos Slim Helu and his family control América Móvil, Latin America’s biggest mobile telecom firm. With foreign telecom partners, Slim bought a stake in Telmex, Mexico’s only phone company, in 1990. Telmex is now part of América Móvil.
#7 Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $94.5B
Age: 81
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Bloomberg LP
Industry: Media & Entertainment
Michael Bloomberg cofounded financial information and media company Bloomberg LP in 1981. He put in the seed funding for the company and now owns 88% of the business, which has estimated revenues north of $12 billion.
#6 Bill Gates
Net Worth: $104B
Age: 67
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Microsoft
Industry: Technology
Bill Gates turned his fortune from software firm Microsoft into diversified holdings including investments in zero-carbon energy. In May 2021, Bill and Melinda Gates each announced on Twitter they were ending their marriage after 27 years. They still co-chair the charitable Gates Foundation.
#5 Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $106B
Age: 92
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Berkshire Hathaway
Industry: Finance & Investments
Known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time. Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns dozens of companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.
#4 Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $107B
Age: 78
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Oracle
Industry: Technology
Larry Ellison is chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle, of which he owns about 35%. He gave up the Oracle CEO role in 2014 after 37 years at the helm. Oracle has grown in part through steady acquisitions of software companies: the biggest was $28.3 billion for electronic health records company Cerner in 2021.
#3 Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $114B
Age: 59
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Amazon
Industry: Technology
Jeff Bezos founded e-commerce giant Amazon in 1994 out of his garage in Seattle. He stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman in July 2021. He now owns a bit less than 10% of the company. He and his wife MacKenzie divorced in 2019 after 25 years of marriage and he transferred a quarter of his then-16% Amazon stake to her.
#2 Elon Musk
Net Worth: $180B
Age: 51
Country/Territory: United States
Source: Tesla, SpaceX
Industry: Automotive
Elon Musk cofounded six companies including electric car maker Tesla, rocket producer SpaceX and tunneling startup Boring Company. He owns about 23% of Tesla between stock and options, but has pledged more than half his stock as collateral for loans. SpaceX, founded in 2002, is worth $127 billion after a funding round in May 2022; it quadrupled its value in three years.
#1 Bernard Arnault & family
Net Worth: $211B
Age: 74
Country/Territory: France
Source: LVMH
Industry: Fashion & Retail
Bernard Arnault oversees the LVMH empire of 75 fashion and cosmetics brands, including Louis Vuitton and Sephora. In January 2021, LVMH acquired American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $15.8 billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever.
Leave a comment