Top 10 richest people in the world, top Billionaires

1. Jeff Bezos.

Jeffrey Preston Bezos is an American internet entrepreneur, industrialist, media proprietor, and investor. He is best known as the founder, CEO, and president of the multi-national technology company Amazon

 He runs it as CEO and owns an 11.1% stake.Between March and April 2020, amid the pandemic, Amazon said it hired 175,000 additional workers.In April 2020, Bezos said he would give $100 million to Feed America, a nonprofit that operates food banks and food pantries across the country.Amazon has faced criticism from U.S. senators and the general public for its treatment of warehouse workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

He divorced his wife MacKenzie in 2019 after 25 years of marriage and transferred a quarter of his Amazon stake to her.

In 2019, Amazon notched $280.5 billion in revenues and a record $11.5 billion in net profit.

Born: 12 January 1964 (age 56 years), Albuquerque, New Mexico, United States

Net worth: US$ 183.6 billion (November 2020)

 

2. Elon Musk.

Elon Reeve Musk FRS is a business magnate, industrial designer and engineer. He is the founder, CEO, CTO and chief designer of SpaceX; early investor, CEO and product architect of Tesla, Inc.; founder of The Boring Company; co-founder of Neuralink; and co-founder and initial co-chairman of OpenAI

Elon Musk is working to revolutionize transportation both on Earth, through electric car maker Tesla - and in space, via rocket producer SpaceX.

He owns 21% of Tesla but has pledged more than half his stake as collateral for loans; Forbes has discounted his stake to take the loans into account.

He stepped down as chairman in 2018, after making alleged "false statements" about a plan to take Tesla private, triggering an SEC probe.

SpaceX, Musk's rocket company, is now valued at $46 billion.

He grew up in South Africa, then immigrated to Canada at age 17. He landed in the U.S. as a transfer student to the University of Pennsylvania.

Born: 28 June 1971 (age 49 years), Pretoria, South Africa

Partner: Grimes (2018–)

Net worth: US$91.9 billion (October 19, 2020)

 

3. Bill Gates. 

William Henry Gates III is an American business magnate, software developer, and philanthropist. He is best known as the co-founder of Microsoft Corporation

With his wife Melinda, Bill Gates chairs the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, the world's largest private charitable foundation.

In May 2020, the Gates Foundation said it would spend $300 million to fight the coronavirus pandemic, funding treatment, detection and vaccines.

Gates has sold or given away much of his stake in Microsoft -- he owns just over 1% of shares -- and invested in a mix of stocks and other assets.

In mid-March 2020, Gates stepped down as a board member of Microsoft, the software firm he founded with Paul Allen (d. 2018) in 1975.

The foundation works to improve global health and to create equal opportunity for people around the globe.

Born: 28 October 1955 (age 65 years), Seattle, Washington, United States

4. Bernard Arnault. 

Bernard Jean Étienne Arnault is a French billionaire businessman and art collector. He is the chairman and chief executive of LVMH Moët Hennessy – Louis Vuitton SE, the world's largest luxury-goods company. In April 2018, he became the richest person in fashion, topping Zara's Amancio Ortega.

One of the world's ultimate taste-makers, Bernard Arnault oversees an empire of 70 brands including Louis Vuitton and Sephora.

In November 2019, LVMH struck a deal to buy American jeweler Tiffany & Co for $16.2 billion, believed to be the biggest luxury brand acquisition ever.

LVMH spent $3.2 billion in 2019 for luxury hospitality group, Belmond, which owns or manages 46 hotels, trains and river cruises.

His father made a small fortune in construction; Arnault got his start by putting up $15 million from that business to buy Christian Dior in 1985.

Born: 5 March 1949 (age 71 years), Roubaix, France

Nationality: French

Net worth: US$ 133.6 billion (November 2020)

5. Mark Zuckerberg. 

Mark Elliot Zuckerberg is an American media magnate, internet entrepreneur, and philanthropist. He is known for co-founding Facebook, Inc. and serves as its chairman, chief executive officer, and controlling shareholder. Wikipedia

Facebook, the social network Zuckerberg runs, has become a go-to communications tool during the coronavirus pandemic lockdown.

More than 1,000 advertisers joined boycott in June to protest Facebook's lax policing of hate speech and misleading posts from politicians.

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 and still owns about 15% of the stock.

In December 2015, Zuckerberg and his wife, Priscilla Chan, pledged to give away 99% of their Facebook stake over their lifetimes.

Born: 14 May 1984 (age 36 years), White Plains, New York, United States

Net worth: US$ 101.7 billion (as of November 2020)

6. Warren Buffett. 

Warren Edward Buffett is an American investor, business tycoon, philanthropist, and the chairman and CEO of Berkshire Hathaway. He is considered one of the most successful investors in the world and has a net worth of over US$85.6 billion as of December 2020, making him the world's fourth-wealthiest person.

Known as the "Oracle of Omaha," Warren Buffett is one of the most successful investors of all time.

Buffett runs Berkshire Hathaway, which owns more than 60 companies, including insurer Geico, battery maker Duracell and restaurant chain Dairy Queen.

Born: 30 August 1930 (age 90 years), Omaha, Nebraska, United States

Net worth: US$ 86 billion (November 2020)

7. Larry Page. 

Lawrence Edward Page is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. He is best known as one of the co-founders of Google along with Sergey Brin.

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.

Born: 26 March 1973 (age 47 years), Lansing, Michigan, United States

Net worth: US$ 78.1 billion (November 2020)

8. Larry Ellison.

Lawrence Joseph Ellison is an American business magnate, investor, and philanthropist who is a co-founder, the executive chairman and chief technology officer of Oracle Corporation.Larry Ellison is chairman, chief technology officer and cofounder of software giant Oracle, of which he owns about 35.4%.

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 of which was $9.3 billion for Netsuite in 2016.

Born: 17 August 1944 (age 76 years), The Bronx, New York, United States

Net worth: 8,820 crores USD (2020) 

9. Steve Ballmer

Steven Anthony Ballmer is an American businessman and investor who served as the chief executive officer of Microsoft from 2000 to 2014. He is the current owner of the Los Angeles Clippers of the National Basketball Association.

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 at a difficult time, after the first dot-com crash and through efforts to catch Google in search and Apple in mobile phones.

Born: 24 March 1956 (age 64 years), Detroit, Michigan, United States

Net worth: US$71.4 billion (July 2020)

10. Sergey Brin

Sergey Mikhaylovich Brin is an American computer scientist and Internet entrepreneur. Together with Larry Page, he co-founded Google. Brin was the president of Google's parent company, Alphabet Inc., until stepping down from the role on December 3, 2019. 

Sergey Brin stepped down as president of Alphabet, parent company of Google, in December 2019 but remains a controller shareholder and a board member.

He cofounded Google with Larry Page in 1998 after the two met at Stanford University while studying for advanced degrees in computer science.

Google went public in 2004 and changed its name to Alphabet in 2015.

Born: 21 August 1973 (age 47 years), Moscow, Russia

Nationality: American

Net worth: US$63.9 billion (September 2020)