Elon Musk, the co-founder of car and sustainable energy company Tesla; Changpeng Zhao, the co-founder of the cryptocurrency exchange Binance; Donald Bren, the majority stakeholder of real estate giant The Irvine Company鈥攖hese are all among the top 100 richest people in the world. They come from different places, have different stories, and their wealth is a result of different factors, just like so many others who are in this group of the world's wealthiest.
To learn about the wealthiest people in the world, compiled net worth data from as of Nov. 9, 2022.
Many of the people on this list used their smarts and creativity to build giant technology empires, invent sophisticated online tools, transform tiny businesses into global conglomerates, expand a single shop into a global retail chain, or turn a small investment into a fortune. Others were handed their wealth by birth, given massive unearned holdings in manufacturing, luxury goods, shipping lines, tobacco, chocolates, and cheese production.
Among the top 100 richest, a noticeable number made their fortunes in China, via commercial real estate, cutting-edge pharmaceuticals, e-commerce, vats of soy sauce, or pig breeding. Others played their cards right in high finance with prescient investments and lucrative hedge funds, while still others pulled their wealth from the earth, extracting oil, gas, gold, and nickel.
It's common for the richest people in the world to be reclusive, shuttling from one luxurious home to another by private jet, protected by walls of security and windows of dark tinted glass. But others bask in the spotlight, looking for their next high-profile conquest or sharing lessons from their experiences with avid audiences.
Keep reading to learn more about the richest people in the world and how they made their fortunes.
You may also like: Highest paying jobs that only require a 2-year degree
You may also like: Tariffs are quietly driving up drug prices鈥攈ere's how it hurts you most
Jason Miller // Getty Images
1 / 100#100. Daniel Gilbert
- Net worth: $15.6 billion
- Source of wealth: Quicken Loans
- Age: 60
- Country/territory: United States
At age 22, was a co-founder of Quicken Loans, which became a leader in the online mortgage lending business. Gilbert has also invested heavily in rehabilitating downtown Detroit with buildings and jobs, and he owns professional basketball's Cleveland Cavaliers. He suffered a in 2019.
South China Morning Post // Getty Images
2 / 100#99. Peter Woo
- Net worth: $15.7 billion
- Source of wealth: real estate
- Age: 76
- Country/territory: Hong Kong
chaired the property developer Wheelock and Co. and its subsidiary Wharf Holdings until he stepped down in 2015. Wheelock and Wharf have holdings in telecoms, ports, and retail. Woo attended the University of Cincinnati and Columbia University then started his career in banking in New York in 1972. He married Bessie Pao, the daughter of Hong Kong shipping magnate Y.K. Pao, and joined her family business in 1975.
Sean Gallup // Getty Images
3 / 100#98. Eric Schmidt
- Net worth: $15.8 billion
- Source of wealth: Google
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: United States
was chief executive officer and chairman of Google from 2001 to 2011, overseeing its rise to becoming a tech powerhouse. In 2017 he co-founded Schmidt Futures to support scientific and technological innovation. In August 2020, Schmidt started a podcast series, "Reimagine with Eric Schmidt," to look at challenges for business, government, science, and technology in the wake of the global pandemic. Schmidt and his wife, Wendy, called Schmidt Sciences in 2024.
J. Conrad Williams Jr./Newsday RM via Getty Images
4 / 100#97. Jerry Jones
- Net worth: $15.9 billion
- Source of wealth: Dallas Cowboys
- Age: 80
- Country/territory: United States
After building up his wealth through the in Texas, Jerry Jones bought the Dallas Cowboys, the NFL's most valuable franchise, in 1989 for $150 million. Jones, who played football in college, restructured the team after buying it鈥攁fter which the team won three Super Bowl games, most recently in 1996. In addition to having bought this team, Jones owns the majority鈥�78%鈥攐f Comstock Resources as of 2022, according to the proxy statement from the company, which drills for natural gas. He also has invested in Papa John's franchises, hospitality management, and real estate.
FMonkey Photo // Shutterstock
5 / 100#96. Robert Pera
- Net worth: $16.1 billion
- Source of wealth: wireless networking gear
- Age: 44
- Country/territory: United States
Robert Pera, the son of a Levi Strauss denim executive, launched his startup Ubiquiti Networks at age 27 in San Jose, California. The wireless data communications products company was a hit and went public in 2011. Pera is now a controlling owner of the Memphis Grizzlies professional basketball team and has bought up luxury properties in New York, Seattle, Miami Beach, and elsewhere.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Mar. 12, 2026
JEAN-FRANCOIS MONIER // Getty Images
6 / 100#95. Emmanuel Besnier
- Net worth: $16.2 billion
- Source of wealth: cheese
- Age: 52
- Country/territory: France
and his family own , a French dairy manufacturer that is the largest maker of cheese in the world and also sells milk, yogurt, butter, cream, chocolate, and desserts. The company was founded by his grandfather in 1933 as a producer of Camembert and expanded under his father. Besnier took over after his father's death in 2000 and undertook several acquisitions to make Lactalis the third-largest dairy group in the world. He is frequently involved in .
Soumik Kar/The The India Today Group via Getty Images
7 / 100#94. Dilip Shanghvi
- Net worth: $16.2 billion
- Source of wealth: pharmaceuticals
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: India
Born in 1955 in Amreli, India, and raised in the city of Kolkata, Dilip Shanghvi founded Sun Pharmaceutical Industries after studying commerce at the University of Calcutta. of the company, Shanghvi helped in making Sun Pharma successful. In 1994, he took the company public, which led to a rapid expansion, acquiring more than 12 brands and companies between 1999 and 2012. He also has been a personal investor鈥攊ncluding in renewable energy.
Jason Reed // Getty Images
8 / 100#93. Rupert Murdoch and family
- Net worth: $16.3 billion
- Source of wealth: newspapers, TV network
- Age: 91
- Country/territory: United States
Australian-born founded the global media company News Corp in 1980. He bought and sold an array of media outlets in the 1970s, 1980s, and 1990s, and today owns the New York Post, The Times of London, Wall Street Journal publisher Dow Jones, and Fox News. He is engaged to retired molecular biologist , who is set to become the billionaire's fifth wife. In 2023, Murdoch at the age of 92.
Khris Hale / Icon Sportswire // Getty Images
9 / 100#92. John Menard Jr.
- Net worth: $16.7 billion
- Source of wealth: home improvement stores
- Age: 82
- Country/territory: United States
Born in 1940 in Wisconsin, John Menard Jr. founded the home improvement chain Menards in 1972. Since then, this chain has continued to expand, so it now has more than 262 stores and is the third-largest home improvement retailer in the U.S., with an estimated in annual sales.
Ralph Orlowski // Getty Images
10 / 100#91. Theo Albrecht Jr. and family
- Net worth: $17.1 billion
- Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe's
- Age: 71
- Country/territory: Germany
owes the beginnings of his fortune to his father, Theo Albrecht Sr., and his uncle, Karl Albrecht, who built a discount grocery store empire in Germany after World War II. His father also bought U.S. grocery chain Trader Joe's in 1971. Albrecht Jr. shares his inheritance with the heirs of his brother, Berthold, who died in 2012. , Berthold's son Nicolay Albrecht, has accused his mother and three sisters of embezzling money from the family trust, and the case is being argued in the German courts.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Dec. 18, 2025
Rajkumar/Mint via Getty Images
11 / 100#90. Savitri Jindal and family
- Net worth: $17.1 billion
- Source of wealth: steel
- Age: 72
- Country/territory: India
Born in 1950, Savitri Jindal of the power and steel conglomerate Jindal Group, O.P. Jindal, in 1965. After her husband died suddenly in a , Jindal took over the Jindal Group. Along with her sons鈥擭aveen, Ratan, Sajjan, and Prithvi鈥擩indal inherited a stake in the conglomerate. She also inherited the political constituency of her late husband, so she is a legislator in the state of Haryana in northern India. , she has continued to work on pursuing her late husband's social welfare goals, including the promotion of the environment, health care, and education.
VCG via Getty Images
12 / 100#89. Li Shufu
- Net worth: $17.3 billion
- Source of wealth: automobiles
- Age: 59
- Country/territory: China
After studying engineering, Li Shufu , as a company selling refrigerator parts. Geely expanded over the years, beginning the production of motorcycles in 1996 and becoming a private carmaker a year later. In 2010, , putting Shufu in headlines around the world.
Horacio Villalobos#Corbis/Getty Images
13 / 100#88. Changpeng Zhao
- Net worth: $17.4 billion
- Source of wealth: cryptocurrency exchange
- Age: 45
- Country/territory: Canada
Changpeng Zhao, in the cryptocurrency industry, founded Binance, a cryptocurrency exchange, in 2017. By 2021, Binance handled of the total trading volume of all centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. In November 2023, with failure to maintain an anti-money laundering program, and was forced to step down as CEO. He is set to be sentenced in April 2024.
Jay L. Clendenin/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images
14 / 100#87. Donald Bren
- Net worth: $17.4 billion
- Source of wealth: real estate
- Age: 90
- Country/territory: United States
Born in California in 1932, Donald Bren by spending some time building homes and a planned community. After getting this industry experience, Bren was among a group, including other investors and one relative, who bought of The Irvine Company, a landowner and real estate development firm. When, in the early part of the '80s, the housing market in the U.S. slowed down, Bren began to buy out his partners. In 1983, he became The Irvine Company's majority shareholder and chairman鈥攁nd, in 1996, he became its sole owner. In addition to his business pursuits, Bren has been involved in philanthropy, in California.
Jim McIsaac // Getty Images
15 / 100#86. Steve Cohen
- Net worth: $17.5 billion
- Source of wealth: hedge funds
- Age: 66
- Country/territory: United States
Steve Cohen, an American and investor, founded the hedge fund SAC Capital Advisors in 1992. SAC was successful in large part because its strategy was to pursue a high volume of aggressive trades. However, in 2014, SAC Capital pled guilty to the charge of insider trading. Since then, Cohen has founded another hedge fund, Point72 Asset Management. In 2020, Cohen , and has been the team's owner ever since.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Jan. 20, 2026
JHVEPhoto // Shutterstock
16 / 100#85. Thomas Frist Jr. and family
- Net worth: $17.8 billion
- Source of wealth: hospitals
- Age: 84
- Country/territory: United States
Born in Nashville in 1938, founded the Hospital Corporation of America in 1968 with his father, as well as Jack Massey, a venture capitalist and entrepreneur. This corporation has expanded over the years and now has almost 200 hospitals, according to the HCA website. Frist isn't an officer of the corporation, but his sons are board members.
Xiao Xiong/Southern Daily/Visual China Group via Getty Images
17 / 100#84. Wang Wenyin
- Net worth: $18.2 billion
- Source of wealth: mining, copper products
- Age: 54
- Country/territory: China
a small business that sold power cords in rural China 鈥攁nd, since then, this business has grown into , a cable and copper company that employs almost 15,000 people. In 2023, a Chinese court on Wang's Amer shares, prompting him to step down as chairman.聽
Mikhail Svetlov // Getty Images
18 / 100#83. Alexey Mordashov
- Net worth: $18.4 billion
- Source of wealth: steel, investments
- Age: 57
- Country/territory: Russia
Until 2022, when the EU and U.S. various Russian oligarchs as a reaction to the war in Ukraine, Alexey Mordashov was in his home country of Russia. He began his life in Cherepovets, a city located 300 miles from Moscow, where his parents worked as mill workers. Since then, he has made his wealth as the chief executive of Severstal, the country's largest mining and steel company.
Grant Halverson // Getty Images
19 / 100#82. David Tepper
- Net worth: $18.5 billion
- Source of wealth: hedge funds
- Age: 65
- Country/territory: United States
David Tepper, a hedge fund manager and investor, began by working at Goldman Sachs, Republic Steel, and Equibank. In 1993, he struck out on his own and, with Jack Walton, founded Appaloosa Management L.P. Between 1994 and 2022, the value of the fund expanded from $300 million to $3.82 billion. Tepper who has focused on improving education and helping people in Pennsylvania, North Carolina, South Carolina, and New Jersey meet their basic needs鈥攁nd he has also supported charities such as UNICEF and Feeding America.
Visual China Group via Getty Images
20 / 100#81. Qin Yinglin
- Net worth: $18.5 billion
- Source of wealth: pig breeding
- Age: 57
- Country/territory: China
After studying animal husbandry at Henan Agricultural University, his career at an enterprise owned by the government. He didn't enjoy this job, so he quit and started his own business, Muyuan Foodstuff. This pig breeding business eventually grew into the business it is today, with revenues over $12 billion in 2021.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Nov. 10, 2025
Neilson Barnard // Getty Images for New York Times
21 / 100#80. Carl Icahn
- Net worth: $18.6 billion
- Source of wealth: investments
- Age: 86
- Country/territory: United States
Before starting his finance career, philosophy and medicine, and, after dropping out of medical school, joined the U.S. Army. After he was discharged, he worked in the finance industry鈥攁nd, in 1968, founded his own brokerage firm, Icahn and Company. Over time, he became one of people on Wall Street. Icahn was for Gordon Gekko's character in the movie "Wall Street."
Dhananjay Bhagat // Shutterstock
22 / 100#79. Radhakishan Damani
- Net worth: $18.6 billion
- Source of wealth: retail, investments
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: India
Radhakishan Damani circumstances far different than those he lives in now: He was raised in a one-room apartment in a tenement block in Mumbai. He went to commerce college, dropped out, became a trader and broker in the stock market in the 1980s, and then, in 2000, started his own business. This business was D-Mart, a retail business鈥攚hich, since the first one opened in 2002, has expanded to more than 200 stores across nearly 50 cities in India.
Patrick McMullan // Getty Images
23 / 100#78. Leonard Lauder
- Net worth: $18.8 billion
- Source of wealth: Estee Lauder
- Age: 89
- Country/territory: United States
is chairman emeritus of Est茅e Lauder, the cosmetics company started by his mother in 1946. As chief executive, he oversaw the launch of brands such as Clinique and the acquisition of brands including Bobbi Brown and Aveda. He also is of American Art, which named its new downtown Manhattan building after him. His first wife Evelyn died in 2011, and in 2015 he married Judy Glickman, a widely recognized photographer. Lauder's memoir, "The Company I Keep: My Life in Beauty," was published in November 2020.
#77. Iris Fontbona and family
- Net worth: $18.9 billion
- Source of wealth: mining
- Age: 79
- Country/territory: Chile
The wealthiest woman in Latin America, took control of her husband Andr贸nico Luksic Abaroa's businesses when he died in 2005. She and her three sons own the majority share of copper mining company Antofagasta, the world's largest copper mining company. The family also owns Qui帽enco, which controls Banco de Chile, copper products manufacturer Madeco, Chilean brewing giant Compa帽铆a de Cervecer铆as Unidas, and the CSAV shipping company. Fontbona is extremely private and is known to refuse all interview requests. The family runs a charitable foundation, Fundaci贸n Familia Luksic, supporting various efforts throughout Chile.
J. Countess // Getty Images
25 / 100#76. Ray Dalio
- Net worth: $19.1 billion
- Source of wealth: hedge funds
- Age: 73
- Country/territory: United States
Ray Dalio founded Bridgewater Associates in 1975 in New York, and it has since become the largest hedge fund in the world. Dalio has written several books that lay out his principles on work, goals, and leadership. He also is a practitioner and advocate of , and meditation courses are available to Bridgewater employees. In 2022, Dalio , giving up his majority stake, though he remains on the board of directors.聽
You may also like: Poorest states in America
VCG // Getty Images
26 / 100#75. Wang Wei
- Net worth: $19.6 billion
- Source of wealth: package delivery, self made
- Age: 52
- Country/territory: China
wealth lies in his share of more than 60% of SF Express, a package delivery service in China. in 1993, illegally transporting packages in a minivan between Hong Kong and the mainland at a time when the Chinese postal service controlled all deliveries. The company went public on the Shenzhen Stock Exchange in 2017. In 2018, it got the first license in China to begin drone deliveries.
Chen Gang // VCG via Getty Images
27 / 100#74. He Xiangjian and family
- Net worth: $19.6 billion
- Source of wealth: home appliances, self made
- Age: 80
- Country/territory: China
When he was 26 years old, and started a small workshop producing lids for bottles, employing 23 residents of the town he grew up in, Beijiao. Over the years, this company, Midea, has expanded into an international company selling various electrical home appliances. In 2019, Midea's revenue was $39.5 billion. He unveiled a in 2023.
VCG via Getty Images
28 / 100#73. Wang Chuanfu
- Net worth: $19.8 billion
- Source of wealth: batteries, automobiles, self made
- Age: 56
- Country/territory: China
Around , Wang Chuanfu created and followed through with a plan of buying a government-owned car manufacturer that was failing so that he could start manufacturing electric vehicles. This company, BYD, is now so successful that its sales of battery-powered cars . When the COVID-19 pandemic began, Chuanfu was among the first people in the business world who pivoted their businesses to meet the demand for masks鈥攁t one point producing every day.
VCG // Getty Images
29 / 100#72. William Lei Ding
- Net worth: $20 billion
- Source of wealth: online games, self made
- Age: 51
- Country/territory: China
, the chief executive of online and mobile games giant NetEase, became China's first internet billionaire in 2003. Ding with three employees, and the company moved into email domains, search engines, and games. NetEase also got involved in comics, forging a collaborative deal with Marvel Comics in 2017.
picture alliance // Getty Images
30 / 100#71. Stefan Quandt
- Net worth: $20.3 billion
- Source of wealth: BMW
- Age: 56
- Country/territory: Germany
is the largest shareholder of German luxury carmaker BMW鈥攁 fortune he inherited from his father, Herbert Quandt, who the company from bankruptcy and takeover in 1959. The younger Quandt is a deputy chairperson on BMW's board and has in homeopathic medicine, logistics, and solar energy.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Dec. 8, 2025
Chesnot // Getty Images
31 / 100#70. Jack Ma
- Net worth: $20.7 billion
- Source of wealth: e-commerce, self made
- Age: 58
- Country/territory: China
made his fortune with Group, China's giant e-commerce business. Its record-setting initial public offering in 2014 raised $25 billion. Before starting his internet business, he was a college English teacher. He is a major supporter of efforts to protect the environment, and left Alibaba's chairmanship in 2019 to concentrate on philanthropy.
Mikhail Svetlov // Getty Images
32 / 100#69. Gennady Timchenko
- Net worth: $20.8 billion
- Source of wealth: oil, gas, self made
- Age: 70
- Country/territory: Russia
The wealth of and his investment company lies in his holdings in Novatek, a giant gas company, and Sibur Holding, a petrochemical manufacturer. He also holds a large stake in a $27 billion oil production project in the Russian Arctic. In his free time, he , and is president of SKA Saint-Petersburg Hockey Club. 鈥攚hich was then the Armenian Soviet Socialist Republic鈥攈e lives in Geneva and counts himself a close ally of Russian President Vladimir Putin.
Drew Angerer // Getty Images
33 / 100#68. Abigail Johnson
- Net worth: $20.9 billion
- Source of wealth: Fidelity
- Age: 60
- Country/territory: United States
became chief executive officer of Fidelity Investments in 2014, making her the third generation of her family to run the mutual fund company. She has been chairman since 2016. The Boston-based company was founded by her grandfather, Edward Johnson II, in 1946.
Alexei Druzhinin // Getty Images
34 / 100#67. Vagit Alekperov
- Net worth: $21 billion
- Source of wealth: oil, self made
- Age: 72
- Country/territory: Russia
started Lukoil, the largest independent oil company in Russia, in 1991, and today he owns almost a quarter of the company. Lukoil produces oil and gas, mostly in Western Siberia, transports its product through pipelines and ships, and operates refineries and fuel stations in Russia and the United States. Alekperov graduated from the Azerbaijan Oil and Chemistry Institute, worked as an oil rig worker in Azerbaijan and Western Siberia, and was a Soviet deputy minister of the oil and gas industry. He and a partner own a Dutch shipyard, Heesen Yachts.
VCG // Getty Images
35 / 100#66. Colin Zheng Huang
- Net worth: $21.1 billion
- Source of wealth: e-commerce, self made
- Age: 42
- Country/territory: China
launched the e-commerce company Pinduoduo, better known as PDD, in 2015. He previously helped set up Google China in 2006. PDD went public in the United States in 2018. In the summer of 2019, he as chief executive of the online shopping company and lowered his stake. However, he still owns nearly 30% of the company and holds shares that control more than 80% of its voting rights.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Dec. 23, 2025
Sundry Photography // Shutterstock
36 / 100#65. Lukas Walton
- Net worth: $21.4 billion
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Age: 36
- Country/territory: United States
Lukas Walton鈥� Walmart's founder, Sam Walton鈥攊s who inherited a large amount of money from his father, who died in a plane crash in 2005. Walton invests in businesses that fight against social ills and environmental problems. He also works as the director of the , which protects the environment and supports education.
IgorGolovniov // Shutterstock
37 / 100#64. Takemitsu Takizaki
- Net worth: $21.4 billion
- Source of wealth: sensors, self made
- Age: 77
- Country/territory: Japan
Japanese businessman founded Keyence, which designs and develops electronic sensors, bar-code readers, and other components for automated factory systems. The products are used by Toyota and Toshiba. Takizaki stepped down from his position as chairman in 2015 but still serves as an honorary chairman. Before Keyence, he that went bankrupt, making him intent on keeping the sensor company debt-free.
ANTHONY WALLACE // Getty Images
38 / 100#63. Michael Hartono
- Net worth: $22.1 billion
- Source of wealth: banking, tobacco
- Age: 83
- Country/territory: Indonesia
wealth is in the , a conglomerate he controls with his brother Robert Budi Hartono. The brothers inherited Djarum from their father. It is a major tobacco and clove cigarette manufacturer in Indonesia and holds stakes in banking, telecommunications, electronics, real estate, and investment companies. Hartono plays professional bridge, a game he learned as a child during the Japanese occupation of Indonesia in World War II.
Madhu Kapparath/Mint via Getty Images
39 / 100#62. Cyrus Poonawalla
- Net worth: $22.4 billion
- Source of wealth: vaccines
- Age: 81
- Country/territory: India
In 1966, the Serum Institute of India, which makes more doses of vaccines than any other company in the world鈥�1.5 billion a year, including those for the flu, polio, and measles. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Serum has entered into various partnerships to make COVID-19 vaccines, including Covidshield, a vaccine Oxford University and AstraZeneca developed. In March 2024, the聽 was unveiled.
Kevin Mazur/WireImage for TIME // Getty Images
40 / 100#61. Harold Hamm and family
- Net worth: $22.4 billion
- Source of wealth: oil and gas, self made
- Age: 76
- Country/territory: United States
Harold Hamm was born in 1945 in Oklahoma, the youngest of his sharecropper parents' 13 children. Though he grew up in difficult circumstances, Hamm eventually became successful in the oil industry. In 1967, he established Continental Resources, where he was chief executive until the end of 2019. Additionally, Hamm co-founded the Domestic Energy Producers Alliance, of which he is chairman. He was a key donor to Donald Trump's presidential campaign efforts in 2016 and 2020.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Jan. 5, 2026
John van Hasselt/Corbis via Getty Images
41 / 100#60. R. Budi Hartono
- Net worth: $23 billion
- Source of wealth: banking, tobacco
- Age: 81
- Country/territory: Indonesia
R. Budi Hartono, along with his brother Michael Hartono, is the co-owner of the . Their father, Oei Wei Gwan, started the business鈥攁nd the sons who took over and modernized the company after its cigarette factory was nearly destroyed by fire and their father died in 1963. Now, Djarum Group produces almost one-fifth of cigarettes made in Indonesia. Additionally, the Hartono brothers are the largest shareholders in the nation's largest bank, Bank Central Asia.
Horacio Villalobos#Corbis // Getty Images
42 / 100#59. Guillaume Pousaz
- Net worth: $23 billion
- Source of wealth: fintech, self made
- Age: 41
- Country/territory: Switzerland
After starting to program at the young age of 8 and studying at HEC Lausanne and Ecole Polytechnique, the payments company Checkout.com in 2012. Since then, Checkout.com has grown to have over 1,500 staffers in almost 20 countries. In addition, Pousaz invests in startups and also mentors them. He is also a philanthropist who aims to improve education, by improving educational outcomes and access to education.
picture alliance // Getty Images
43 / 100#58. Susanne Klatten
- Net worth: $23 billion
- Source of wealth: BMW, pharmaceuticals
- Age: 60
- Country/territory: Germany
, who holds about one-fifth of automaker BMW's shares, inherited her wealth from her father, German industrialist Herbert Quandt. She also owns Altana AG, a pharmaceutical and specialty chemicals company. In 2007, she had an extramarital affair with a Swiss businessman who defrauded her of $10 million and The businessman was convicted of extortion and sentenced to prison for blackmail in 2009.
Gary Whitton // Shutterstock
44 / 100#57. Germ谩n Larrea Mota Velasco and family
- Net worth: $23.7 billion
- Source of wealth: mining
- Age: 69
- Country/territory: Mexico
Mexico's owns the controlling share of the country's biggest copper mining company, Grupo M茅xico. He is president and chief executive of the company, which also operates in Peru and the United States and has diversified into infrastructure and rail transportation. In 2014, the company came under criticism after a copper mine spill in Sonora contaminated the local water supply in what is considered the largest environmental spill in Mexico's history.
Nail Fattakhov // Getty Images
45 / 100#56. Leonid Mikhelson
- Net worth: $24.4 billion
- Source of wealth: gas, chemicals, self made
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: Russia
started out as a construction foreman on a gas pipeline project in Siberia and today heads , which produces about 10% of Russia's natural gas. He is Novatek's largest shareholder, with a 25% stake. He also owns a sizable stake in Silbur, a petrochemical company. His business partner in both companies is Gennady Timchenko, a businessman with ties to Russian President Vladimir Putin.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Jan. 26, 2026
The India Today Group // Getty Images
46 / 100#55. Shiv Nadar
- Net worth: $24.4 billion
- Source of wealth: software services, self made
- Age: 77
- Country/territory: India
Shiv Nadar is a co-founder of , which started in 1976 and is now a global technology giant that offers software products, platforms, and services to business and industry. The company is and giving them on-the-job training. In July 2020, Nadar turned over the position of HCL chairman to his daughter. The , which he started in 1994, is focused on improving access to education.
Tomohiro Ohsumi // Getty Images
47 / 100#54. Masayoshi Son
- Net worth: $24.5 billion
- Source of wealth: internet, telecom, self made
- Age: 65
- Country/territory: Japan
Masayoshi Son runs SoftBank Group, a mobile telecom and investment giant, which he founded in 1981. SoftBank , and today has major holdings in Uber and DoorDash. Son is its biggest shareholder, with a 26% stake. In June 2020, SoftBank announced it was launching a . As of 2024, he is reportedly seeking to break into the .
James Leynse // Getty Images
48 / 100#53. Thomas Peterffy
- Net worth: $24.8 billion
- Source of wealth: discount brokerage, self made
- Age: 78
- Country/territory: United States
owns an estimated 75% of Interactive Brokers, a company he founded in 1993. He is also chairman of the global automated brokerage. And he helped found the Boston Options Exchange, an options-trading company. Peterffy owns several horses and a lavish waterfront mansion in Palm Beach, Florida, along with other luxury properties. He at age 21, unable to speak English, and got a job doing computer programming. He designed automated stock trading formulas and bought a seat on the American Stock Exchange before launching Interactive Brokers.
Sasha Mordovets // Getty Images
49 / 100#52. Vladimir Lisin
- Net worth: $25.4 billion
- Source of wealth: steel, transport, self made
- Age: 66
- Country/territory: Russia
As a young man, was an electrical fitter in a Siberian coal mine and a steelworker. He is now , Russia's biggest manufacturer of steel products. He also owns the country's biggest freight rail operator, as well as port facilities and shipping companies. He built a giant shooting range complex north of Moscow and heads up several firearms-related organizations.
Jerod Harris // Getty Images
50 / 100#51. MacKenzie Scott
- Net worth: $25.8 billion
- Source of wealth: Amazon
- Age: 52
- Country/territory: United States
is the ex-wife of Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos. When they divorced in 2019, she became one of the world's wealthiest women. She won a in their settlement, a 4% stake worth upward of $35 billion. The stake has since grown to be valued at approximately $68 billion. Scott has made headlines for her philanthropic giving; she to 361 organizations.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Dec. 30, 2025
Sergei Karpukhin // Getty Images
51 / 100#50. Vladimir Potanin
- Net worth: $26.4 billion
- Source of wealth: metals, self made
- Age: 61
- Country/territory: Russia
originally bought shares in Norilsk Nickel and now owns more than one-third of the metals giant. He is credited with devising Russia's so-called program, under which banks and businesses loaned money to the government, secured by state-owned natural resource companies. But the government could not repay the loans, so the lenders got large stakes in those firms. Potanin has holdings in pharmaceutical company Petrovax Pharm and is the developer of a Russian ski resort, Rosa Khutor. He was a deputy prime minister to former Russian President Boris Yeltsin and has ties to current Russian President Vladimir Putin.
picture alliance // Getty Images
52 / 100#49. Klaus-Michael Kuehne
- Net worth: $26.5 billion
- Source of wealth: shipping
- Age: 85
- Country/territory: Germany
serves as honorary chairman of Kuehne + Nagel International AG, a Swiss shipping and sea freight giant company co-founded by his grandfather in 1958. Kuehne also owns a sizable stake in , a German container shipping business, and a minority stake in the second-tier soccer team Hamburger SV.
VCG // Getty Images
53 / 100#48. Ma Huateng
- Net worth: $26.8 billion
- Source of wealth: internet media, self made
- Age: 51
- Country/territory: China
, better known as Pony Ma, is chairman of Tencent Holdings, a Chinese internet giant. Along with its popular WeChat and QQ messaging systems, Tencent has shares of the music-streaming service Spotify and Tesla electric cars. Pony worked in research and development of internet paging for a Chinese telecommunications provider in China before co-founding Tencent with four partners in 1998.
Sasha Mordovets // Getty Images
54 / 100#47. Andrey Melnichenko
- Net worth: $27 billion
- Source of wealth: coal, fertilizers, self made
- Age: 50
- Country/territory: Russia
Until the middle of 2022, Andrey Melnichenko owned fertilizer company EuroChem and coal producer SUEK. But a day before the EU imposed sanctions on hom, Melnichenko to his wife. Melnichenko started , a currency exchange, in the 1990s. After the Soviet Union's fall in 1993, he and two partners created MDM Bank, which by 2022 would become one of the biggest non-government banks in Russia. At that time, Melnichenko partnered with businessman Sergei Popov to start three companies: steel pipe manufacturer TMK, EuroChem, and SUEK.
Matt King // Getty Images
55 / 100#46. Gina Rinehart
- Net worth: $27 billion
- Source of wealth: mining
- Age: 68
- Country/territory: Australia
The richest person in Australia, is the daughter of iron ore magnate and explorer Lang Hancock. She built up her late father's company Hancock Prospecting after she became executive chairman in 1992. She also is the country's second largest producer of cattle, with a portfolio of ranches and cattle stations across the country.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Feb. 5, 2026
Cristina Arias // Getty Images
56 / 100#45. Dieter Schwarz
- Net worth: $27.7 billion
- Source of wealth: retail
- Age: 83
- Country/territory: Germany
inherited the Schwarz Group, the largest food retailer in Europe, from his father, who got his start in the wholesale fruit business in 1930. Schwarz Group consists of the supermarket chain Lidl and the discount chain Kaufland. Schwarz, an extremely private person with few details of his life known publicly, stepped down from the group's management in 1999.
Denise Truscello // Getty Images for Keep Memory Alive
57 / 100#44. Miriam Adelson and family
- Net worth: $28 billion
- Source of wealth: casinos
- Age: 77
- Country/territory: Israel, United States
bachelor of science and a medical degree, Israeli-born Miriam Adelson () became a physician and married another physician, and they had two children together. They eventually divorced, and when Miriam was in the U.S. for an exchange program in 1986, she and businessman Sheldon Adelson met. They married five years later, by which time, he had purchased the Sands Hotel and Casino in Las Vegas, and built The Venetian, a casino and resort hotel. He , leaving her with a stake of 56.7% in the Las Vegas Sands casino group. Republican Party megadonors, supported , and fought against anti-Semitism.
TIM SLOAN // Getty Images
58 / 100#43. Jim Simons
- Net worth: $28.1 billion
- Source of wealth: hedge funds, self made
- Age: 84
- Country/territory: United States
Jim Simons was a university mathematics professor who started trading stocks in 1978. Four years later he launched his quantitative hedge fund, Renaissance Technologies, or . Using math and data, Simons designed analytical models to detect market fluctuations and trends and algorithms to make trading decisions. He retired in 2010. During the Vietnam War, for U.S. forces.
South China Morning Post // Getty Images
59 / 100#42. Lee Shau Kee
- Net worth: $28.1 billion
- Source of wealth: real estate, self made
- Age: 94
- Country/territory: Hong Kong
Lee Shau Kee made his fortune in real estate, starting in 1976. The company has holdings in hotels, natural gas, retail, and agricultural land, as well as commercial and residential property in Hong Kong and mainland China. but left for Hong Kong as a young man in 1948 on the eve of the Communist Revolution. In Hong Kong, he worked as a gold and currency trader before getting into real estate. He and turned control of the company over to his two sons.
Koji Watanabe // Getty Images
60 / 100#41. Tadashi Yanai and family
- Net worth: $28.4 billion
- Source of wealth: fashion retail, self made
- Age: 73
- Country/territory: Japan
Japan's is chief executive, chairman, and the biggest shareholder of Fast Retailing, parent of the popular clothing company Uniqlo. Fast Retailing is Asia's largest clothing retailer. The first Uniqlo store opened in 1984, and now there are more than 2,000 stores in some 20 countries. Yanai lives in a $50 million house outside Tokyo and owns two golf courses in Hawaii. He was born in southern Japan, where his father owned a clothing store and the family lived upstairs.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Jan. 29, 2026
Alex Wong // Getty Images
61 / 100#40. Stephen Schwarzman
- Net worth: $28.5 billion
- Source of wealth: investments, self made
- Age: 75
- Country/territory: United States
is chairman and chief executive of Blackstone, a private equity firm he co-founded in 1985. One of the world's biggest investment firms, Blackstone has $564 billion in assets under management. Schwarzman donated $350 million to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to set up the Schwarzman College of Computing and $150 million to Yale University for the Schwarzman Center, a space for student programs and the arts. He also launched a program called Schwarzman Scholars for international students to study in China.
Jirapong Manustrong // Shutterstock
62 / 100#39. Jeff Yass
- Net worth: $30 billion
- Source of wealth: trading, investments, self made
- Age: 64
- Country/territory: United States
After studying math and economics at SUNY Binghamton, started options trading while studying at the business school at NYU. By the time he turned 30, he had made $1 million. , along with , the Susquehanna International Group, a financial trading firm with offices in Shanghai, Tokyo, San Francisco, Dublin, Chicago, and New York.
David M. Benett // Getty Images
63 / 100#38. Len Blavatnik
- Net worth: $30 billion
- Source of wealth: music, chemicals, self made
- Age: 65
- Country/territory: United States
Business entrepreneur built his fortune in the Russian aluminum and oil industries, then shifted his sights westward and in 2011. His investment company, Access Industries, also has holdings in the chemicals company LyondellBasell. Blavatnik was born in Ukraine, emigrated to the United States, and got an MBA from Harvard University before making his investments in the Soviet Union's natural resource industries. After getting British citizenship, Blavatnik was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his philanthropy.
Foc Kan // Getty Images
64 / 100#36. Alain Wertheimer (tie)
- Net worth: $30.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Chanel
- Age: 74
- Country/territory: France
French luxury brand Chanel is owned by , who serves as its chairman, and his younger brother Gerard. Their grandfather Pierre Wertheimer founded Les Parfums Chanel in 1924 with fragrance maker Coco Chanel. During World War II, she by using a law that prohibited Jews from owning businesses. But the family, who had fled Paris, had arranged for a friend to handle their stake during the occupation to prevent such a takeover. Wertheimer owns an with works by Matisse, Rousseau, and Picasso that he does not permit to be photographed or loaned out.
Julien Hekimian // Getty Images
65 / 100#36. Gerard Wertheimer (tie)
- Net worth: $30.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Chanel
- Age: 71
- Country/territory: France
owns the iconic fashion powerhouse Chanel with his older brother Alain. The younger Wertheimer runs the luxury company's watch division from his home in Geneva. The brothers assumed control of the company in 1996 after the death of their father, Jacques Wertheimer. They also and raise thoroughbred racehorses.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Nov. 13, 2025
picture alliance // Getty Images
66 / 100#35. Robin Zeng
- Net worth: $31.4 billion
- Source of wealth: batteries, self made
- Age: 53
- Country/territory: Hong Kong
is the founder of Contemporary Amperex Technology, a giant global manufacturer of electric batteries. Its clients include Bosch, Jaguar, Honda, Volvo, Toyota, and Volkswagen. The company is headquartered in Zeng's hometown of Ningde, a coastal city in China's Fujian Province.
PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images
67 / 100#34. Ken Griffin
- Net worth: $31.5 billion
- Source of wealth: hedge funds, self made
- Age: 54
- Country/territory: United States
After when he was in college, founded Citadel, an investment firm, in 1990. This firm is now considered among the most successful firms in the world that specialize in investments beyond stocks and bonds, such as precious metals and specialized financial instruments. Griffin is also a philanthropist and has donated to support cultural institutions, improve public spaces, reduce violent crime, expand education access, and more. As of 2022, he has .
VCG // Getty Images
68 / 100#33. Li Ka-shing
- Net worth: $32.5 billion
- Source of wealth: diversified, self made
- Age: 94
- Country/territory: Hong Kong
left mainland China with his family as a child and got his start in business in 1950, opening a plastics company when he was just 21 years old. He went on to build conglomerates CK Hutchison Holdings Ltd. and CK Asset Holdings Ltd. About a third of his wealth consists of his holdings in Video Communications, which he began to accumulate in 2013. The video conferencing app's value soared as employees around the world began working from home during the COVID-19 pandemic. Among private run by wealthy people, is second in size only to the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
GIUSEPPE CACACE // Getty Images
69 / 100#32. Giovanni Ferrero
- Net worth: $33.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Nutella, chocolates
- Age: 58
- Country/territory: Italy
inherited his family's confectionery business, launched by his grandfather in 1946. His grandfather had concocted a sweet with molasses, hazelnut oil, and cocoa that was less expensive than chocolate for customers in war-torn Italy. With some tweaks, the sweet came to be what we know today as Nutella. The company expanded into post-war Germany, where it made candy in former Nazi munitions factories. Giovanni Ferrero and his brother Pietro ran the company as co-chief executives for 14 years, but Pietro died in 2011 of a heart attack at age 47. The company owns the brands Tic Tac, Kinder Joy, Baby Ruth, Butterfinger, and its classic Ferrero Rocher chocolates, for which it purchases roughly a third of the world's hazelnut crop.
AlanMorris // Shutterstock
70 / 100#31. Beate Heister and Karl Albrecht Jr. and family
- Net worth: $33.6 billion
- Source of wealth: supermarkets
- Age:
- Country/territory: Germany
In 1920, the oldest version of what became the Aldi discount grocery chain was started and Anna Albrecht in Germany. Eventually, their two sons, Theo and Karl, became owners of Albrecht's grocery store, and by 1953, they had expanded to around 30 supermarkets. The brothers changed the company's name to Aldi in the 1960s, and then split Aldi into Aldi Nord, managed by Theo, and Aldi Sud, managed by Karl. Aldi Sud eventually expanded internationally, and when Karl died in 2014, his son, Karl Albrecht Jr., and daughter, Beate Heister, each received half his fortune.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Jan. 8, 2026
Chesnot // Getty Images
71 / 100#30. Fran莽ois Pinault and family
- Net worth: $33.8 billion
- Source of wealth: luxury goods, self made
- Age: 86
- Country/territory: France
In 1963, France's founded Kering, a luxury holding company that owns brands like Gucci. In 1998, Pinault obtained a majority stake in Christie's auction house. A high-school drop-out, Pinault is an avid collector of contemporary art. Following the 2019 fire at Notre Dame, he and his son Fran莽ois-Henri, who is married to actress Salma Hayek, pledged 100 million euros to help rebuild the damaged Paris cathedral.
Drew Angerer // Getty Images
72 / 100#29. Phil Knight and family
- Net worth: $37.4 billion
- Source of wealth: Nike, self made
- Age: 84
- Country/territory: United States
Phil Knight, a former runner at the University of Oregon, started , a running shoe company, with his former coach Bill Bowerman in 1962. The company became Nike in 1978. paid $35 to a student at Portland State University to design Nike's distinctive "Swoosh" logo. Knight retired as chairman in 2016.
BERTRAND GUAY // Getty Images
73 / 100#28. Mark Zuckerberg
- Net worth: $37.7 billion
- Source of wealth: Facebook, self made
- Age: 38
- Country/territory: United States
created Facebook when he was a student at Harvard. The company went public in 2012, and he has retained a stake of about 15%. for failing to block misinformation. In June 2020, more than 1,000 advertisers boycotted Facebook to protest the company's lax policing of hate speech and misleading posts from politicians.
Pool // Getty Images
74 / 100#26. Jacqueline Mars (tie)
- Net worth: $38 billion
- Source of wealth: candy, pet food
- Age: 83
- Country/territory: United States
holds one-third of Mars Inc. alongside her brother John. The four children of their late brother hold the balance. Her son Stephen Badger is the company chairman. She also owns a horse farm in Virginia where Olympic equestrians train. Mars was involved in an automobile crash in Virginia in 2013 that killed a passenger in another vehicle. She reportedly admitted to falling asleep at the wheel and was fined $2,500.
Johnny Green - PA Images // Getty Images
75 / 100#26. John Mars (tie)
- Net worth: $38 billion聽
- Source of wealth: candy, pet food聽
- Age: 87聽
- Country/territory: United States
The late Frank Mars founded in 1911, and today his grandson John Mars holds one-third of the candy giant. The company makes such well-known sweets as Snickers, Twix, and M&Ms. It also owns the Wrigley Co. chewing gum company and Iams pet foods. John Mars lives in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
You may also like: 15 major online retailers, ranked from worst to best by customers
CHARLY TRIBALLEAU/AFP via Getty Images
76 / 100#25. Rodolphe Saad茅 and family
- Net worth: $41.4 billion
- Source of wealth: shipping
- Age: 52
- Country/territory: France
After studying and starting his own water cooler company, Rodolphe Saad茅 joined his father, Jacques Saad茅, at the company he led, . Eventually, this company became CMA CGM, the in the world. Saade, along with his family, owns nearly three-quarters of CMA CGM.
VCG // Getty Images
77 / 100#24. Zhang Yiming
- Net worth: $49.5 billion
- Source of wealth: TikTok, self made
- Age: 38
- Country/territory: China
founded ByteDance, the software company that developed TikTok and also owns a number of social networking apps within China. Zhang launched the TikTok app under the name Douyin in 2016. Zhang himself loves to make TikTok videos and requires his management team to not only make them as well but to also achieve a set number of "likes."
Gary Hershorn // Getty Images
78 / 100#23. David Thomson and family
- Net worth: $50.1 billion
- Source of wealth: media
- Age: 65
- Country/territory: Canada
and his family own several high-profile media companies, including Thomson Reuters, where Thomson is chairman. Thomson, who holds the U.K. title Baron Thomson of Fleet, collects paintings by Pablo Picasso and John Constable, and also is part owner of the NHL's Winnipeg Jets.
Clodagh Kilcoyne // Getty Images
79 / 100#22. Michael Dell
- Net worth: $50.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Dell Technologies, self made
- Age: 57
- Country/territory: United States
started building computers when he was a college student at the University of Texas, where he made $80,000 in sales his freshman year. He dropped out and went into business in 1984, selling $6 million worth of personal computers in his first year. he has made in hotels and restaurants through his private firm MSD Capital. He recounted his successes in a book he wrote in 1999, "Direct from Dell: Strategies That Revolutionized the Industry."
Rick T. Wilking // Getty Images
80 / 100#21. Alice Walton
- Net worth: $58.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Age: 73
- Country/territory: United States
The daughter of Walmart founder Sam Walton, is heavily involved in the arts. One project, the Crystal Bridges Museum of American Art in Bentonville, Arkansas, opened in 2011. She also breeds horses at her ranch in Texas.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Dec. 22, 2025
Patrick T. Fallon for The Washington Post // Getty Images
81 / 100#19. Charles Koch (tie)
- Net worth: $58.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries
- Age: 87
- Country/territory: United States
The fortune of lies in Koch Industries, a diversified private company with holdings in chemicals and pipelines. His father, Fred Koch, started the business in the oil and gasoline industry, and Charles Koch now owns a 42% stake in the business. His brother David, who died in 2019, held a similarly sized share now held by his widow Julia and their children.
Michael N. Todaro // Getty Images
82 / 100#19. Julia Koch and family (tie)
- Net worth: $58.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Koch Industries
- Age: 60
- Country/territory: United States
is the widow of David Koch, and she inherited his share of Koch Industries when he died in 2019. She sits on the Koch Industries board of directors, and she is head of the David H. Koch Foundation, which makes philanthropic and research-related grants.
Rick T. Wilking // Getty Images
83 / 100#18. Rob Walton
- Net worth: $59.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Age: 78
- Country/territory: United States
became chairman of Walmart when his father, founder Sam Walton, died in 1992. Rob and other family members own about half of the retail giant's stock. Rob retired in June 2015 but is still involving conservation and sustainability.
fotopress // Getty Images
84 / 100#17. Amancio Ortega
- Net worth: $59.6 billion
- Source of wealth: Zara, self made
- Age: 86
- Country/territory: Spain
fortune comes from the world of retail and fashion. He was a co-founder, with his late ex-wife, in 1975 of Inditex, owner of the Zara retail clothing stores. He has in New York, Madrid, Barcelona, and London and has a 5% stake in the Spanish energy company Enagas. He stepped down as Inditex chairman in 2011
Rick T. Wilking // Getty Images
85 / 100#16. Jim Walton
- Net worth: $60.4 billion
- Source of wealth: Walmart
- Age: 74
- Country/territory: United States
, the youngest son of Walmart's founder, is chief executive and chairman of Arvest Bank Group, an Arkansas bank controlled by the Walton family. Jim Walton holds 44% of the bank, which has branches in Kansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma. He gave away more than $1 billion of his Walmart stock to philanthropy in 2019.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state Dec. 4, 2025
VCG // Getty Images
86 / 100#15. Zhong Shanshan
- Net worth: $64.2 billion
- Source of wealth: beverages, pharmaceuticals, self made
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: China
is the founder of the bottled water company Nongfu Spring and owner of the vaccine maker Beijing Wantai Biological Pharmacy Enterprise. Both companies went public in 2020, swelling Zhong's wealth. Due to his low public profile, Zhong is called the "Lone Wolf" in China. As a child, he dropped out of elementary school during the Cultural Revolution, later working in construction and as a newspaper reporter.
MARTIN BUREAU // Getty Images
87 / 100#14. Fran莽oise Bettencourt Meyers and family
- Net worth: $66.7 billion
- Source of wealth: L'Or茅al
- Age: 69
- Country/territory: France
is an heir to the L'Oreal fortune, which she inherited from her mother. In a highly publicized case, Bettencourt Meyers took a close friend of her mother's to court, accusing the friend of trying to manipulate the older woman out of her wealth. The granddaughter of L'Oreal's founder Eugene Schueller, Bettencourt Meyers has also written several books on such topics as Jewish-Christian relations. Her family established the Bettencourt Schueller Foundation in the 1980s.
Kelly Sullivan // Getty Images
88 / 100#13. Sergey Brin
- Net worth: $74.5 billion
- Source of wealth: Google, self made
- Age: 49
- Country/territory: United States
and partner Larry Page founded Google in 1998. Brin remains one of the largest single shareholders in the search engine's parent company Alphabet. He emigrated to the United States from Russia when he was 6 years old.
Sean Gallup // Getty Images
89 / 100#12. Steve Ballmer
- Net worth: $75.2 billion
- Source of wealth: Microsoft, self made
- Age: 66
- Country/territory: United States
is the former chief executive of Microsoft, a company he joined in 1980. He left the tech giant in 2014 and bought the Los Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion. He is a major philanthropist involved in anti-poverty solutions.
Brett Carlsen // Getty Images
90 / 100#11. Michael Bloomberg
- Net worth: $76.8 billion
- Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP, self made
- Age: 80
- Country/territory: United States
first made his money on Wall Street, where he worked for Salomon Brothers. He launched Bloomberg L.P., a financial information and media company, in 1981 and owns nearly 90% of the business. He was mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013. His extensive philanthropic interests include gun control and tackling climate change. He is also a major donor to Johns Hopkins University, his alma mater.
You may also like: Cheapest gas stations in every state
Kimberly White // Getty Images
91 / 100#10. Larry Page
- Net worth: $77.5 billion
- Source of wealth: Google, self made
- Age: 49
- Country/territory: United States
started Google with Sergey Brin, whom he met as a graduate student in computer science at Stanford University. Page is no longer chief executive of Google's parent company, Alphabet, but, like Brin, remains a significant shareholder. He has invested in space exploration and the development of flying electric taxis, and he is a supporter of clean energy, powering his home with fuel cells and geothermal energy.
Chris Hondros // Getty Images
92 / 100#9. Carlos Slim Hel煤 and family
- Net worth: $86.9 billion
- Source of wealth: telecom, self made
- Age: 82
- Country/territory: Mexico
Mexican business magnate has extensive holdings in energy, mining, communications, retail, and finance through his Grupo Carso conglomerate. For many years, he owned the country's former telephone monopoly, He founded the art museum Museo Soumaya in Mexico City, helped revitalize the historic city center, and set up the Carlos Slim Foundation to promote education, health, and sports.
Hindustan Times // Getty Images
93 / 100#8. Mukesh Ambani
- Net worth: $92.5 billion
- Source of wealth: diversified
- Age: 65
- Country/territory: India
heads Industries, India's giant oil and gas company that was started as a small enterprise by his father. Ambani holds a 42% stake in Reliance, which also owns a 4G wireless network in India. Ambani and his brother divided the family business when their father died in 2002. Ambani also is the owner of a professional cricket team, the Mumbai Indians.
Kimberly White // Getty Images
94 / 100#7. Larry Ellison
- Net worth: $98.8 billion
- Source of wealth: software, self made
- Age: 78
- Country/territory: United States
co-founded Oracle Software in 1977 and today has extensive , including a Hawaiian island and dozens of properties in Malibu and Lake Tahoe. He remains chairman of Oracle's board. Ellison also has invested in electric car maker Tesla.
Paul Morigi // Getty Images
95 / 100#6. Warren Buffett
- Net worth: $101.6 billion
- Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway, self made
- Age: 92
- Country/territory: United States
Investor runs , a conglomerate that owns dozens of companies like Geico insurance and Duracell batteries. Berkshire Hathaway's stock is the most expensive, trading on the New York Stock Exchange at more than $300,000 a share before the market plunged in 2020 due to the coronavirus pandemic. Buffett has launched a campaign urging billionaires to give away half their wealth and has vowed to give away nearly all of his fortune.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Feb. 23, 2026
JEFF PACHOUD // Getty Images
96 / 100#5. Bill Gates
- Net worth: $101.6 billion
- Source of wealth: Microsoft, self made
- Age: 67
- Country/territory: United States
co-founded Microsoft, the biggest software business in the world. He stepped down as chairman in 2014 to concentrate on philanthropy. He and his wife are founders of the , the largest private charitable foundation in the world, which addresses a range of issues including the eradication of malaria, reducing child mortality, ending hunger, and promoting sustainable growth. He has donated more than $35 billion in Microsoft stock to the foundation.
MANDEL NGAN // Getty Images
97 / 100#4. Jeff Bezos
- Net worth: $110.3 billion
- Source of wealth: Amazon, self made
- Age: 58
- Country/territory: United States
The founder of Amazon,, is chief executive of the e-commerce giant and holds a stake of more than 11%. He also owns The Washington Post. In his 2019 with ex-wife MacKenzie Scott, she got a 4% stake in Amazon鈥攚orth more than $38 billion at the time of the settlement.
Vishal Bhatnagar/NurPhoto via Getty Images
98 / 100#3. Gautam Adani
- Net worth: $144.7 billion
- Source of wealth: infrastructure, commodities, self made
- Age: 60
- Country/territory: India
A college dropout, been compared to business magnates from the Gilded Age of the U.S. like Vanderbilt and Rockefeller. After getting his start in diamond trading, in 1988 Adani set up a commodity trading business that would eventually become Adani Enterprises Limited, or AEL. In 1995, Adani began operating Gujarat's Mundra Port鈥擨ndia's highest-volume commercial port. Adani now owns the nation's biggest private port operator, its largest private producer of thermal power, and its second-largest cement manufacturer. He is also a clean energy investor.
ERIC PIERMONT // Getty Images
99 / 100#2. Bernard Arnault and family
- Net worth: $160.5 billion
- Source of wealth: LVMH
- Age: 73
- Country/territory: France
France's is chief executive and chairman of the luxury goods giant LVMH Mo毛t Hennessy Louis Vuitton. He began his professional life as a civil engineer but moved into the world of luxury goods in 1984 when he reorganized the Financi猫re Agache holding company, organizing its portfolio around the design house Christian Dior. He became LVMH's majority shareholder in 1989.
Dimitrios Kambouris/Getty Images for The Met Museum/Vogue
100 / 100#1. Elon Musk
- Net worth: $192 billion
- Source of wealth: Tesla, SpaceX, self made
- Age: 51
- Country/territory: United States
, who in 2022 bought Twitter for $44 billion, aims to pioneer new, sustainable forms of travel with his electric car maker Tesla, and owns about a fifth of the company. His rocket company SpaceX has been valued at almost $36 billion. At SpaceX, Musk oversees the development of spacecraft, with plans for missions to orbit the earth and travel to other planets. He also launched The Boring Co. to design tunnel technology for use with an all-electric public transportation system. Musk was involved in creating and made $165 million when it was sold to eBay.
You may also like: How gas prices have changed in the U.S. in the last week Feb. 9, 2026