Another year, another set of records broken by the planet’s wealthiest. Despite some global economic turmoil — plummeting oil prices, weakened Euros, ruinous rubles — it was still a pretty good year for billionaires overall.
Exactly how much are the world’s billionaires worth? $7.05 trillion, according to FORBES’ latest ranking — besting last year’s record-breaking $6.4 trillion sum by a hefty $650 billion. The jump is driven in part by 290 newcomers, our biggest freshman class, which helps push the total number of billionaires in the world to 1,826, the highest number we’ve ever recorded.
While anyone with enough loot to make our count is well within the top 1% worldwide, income inequality is present even among this group: the richest 500 individuals collectively hold $4.7 trillion of that $7.05 trillion total. That translates to just over a quarter of billionaires accounting for two thirds of the wealth on our list.
What follows below is a simple list of those 500. You’ll find a mix of fresh faces like taxi cartel capsizers Travis Kalanick and Garrett Camp (whose ridesharing service, Uber, is worth more than $40 billion) and the usual suspects like Bill Gates, who retains the top spot, Warren Buffett and Elon Musk.
1. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $79.2 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
2. Carlos Slim Helu & family
Net Worth: $77.1 B
Source of wealth: telecom
3. Warren Buffett
Net Worth: $72.7 B
Source of wealth: Berkshire Hathaway
4. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $64.5 B
Source of wealth: Zara
5. Larry Ellison
Net Worth: $54.3 B
Source of wealth: Oracle
6. Charles Koch
Net Worth: $42.9 B
Source of wealth: diversified
6. David Koch
Net Worth: $42.9 B
Source of wealth: diversified
8. Christy Walton & family
Net Worth: $41.7 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
9. Jim Walton
Net Worth: $40.6 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
10. Liliane Bettencourt & family
Net Worth: $40.1 B
Source of wealth: L’Oreal
11. Alice Walton
Net Worth: $39.4 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
12. S. Robson Walton
Net Worth: $39.1 B
Source of wealth: Wal-Mart
13. Bernard Arnault & family
Net Worth: $37.2 B
Source of wealth: LVMH
14. Michael Bloomberg
Net Worth: $35.5 B
Source of wealth: Bloomberg LP
15. Jeff Bezos
Net Worth: $34.8 B
Source of wealth: Amazon.com
16. Mark Zuckerberg
Net Worth: $33.4 B
Source of wealth: Facebook
17. Li Ka-shing
Net Worth: $33.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
18. Sheldon Adelson
Net Worth: $31.4 B
Source of wealth: casinos
19. Larry Page
Net Worth: $29.7 B
Source of wealth: Google
20. Sergey Brin
Net Worth: $29.2 B
Source of wealth: Google
21. Georg Schaeffler
Net Worth: $26.9 B
Source of wealth: ball bearings
22. Forrest Mars Jr
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
22. Jacqueline Mars
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
22. John Mars
Net Worth: $26.6 B
Source of wealth: candy
25. David Thomson & family
Net Worth: $25.5 B
Source of wealth: media
26. Jorge Paulo Lemann
Net Worth: $25 B
Source of wealth: beer
27. Lee Shau Kee
Net Worth: $24.8 B
Source of wealth: real estate
28. Stefan Persson
Net Worth: $24.5 B
Source of wealth: H&M
29. George Soros
Net Worth: $24.2 B
Source of wealth: hedge funds
29. Wang Jianlin
Net Worth: $24.2 B
Source of wealth: real estate
31. Carl Icahn
Net Worth: $23.5 B
Source of wealth: investments
32. Maria Franca Fissolo & family
Net Worth: $23.4 B
Source of wealth: Nutella, chocolates
33. Jack Ma
Net Worth: $22.7 B
Source of wealth: e-commerce
34. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Net Worth: $22.6 B
Source of wealth: investments
35. Steve Ballmer
Net Worth: $21.5 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
35. Phil Knight
Net Worth: $21.5 B
Source of wealth: Nike
37. Beate Heister & Karl Albrecht Jr.
Net Worth: $21.3 B
Source of wealth: supermarkets
38. Li Hejun
Net Worth: $21.1 B
Source of wealth: solar power equipment
39. Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $21 B
Source of wealth: petrochemicals, oil & gas
40. Leonardo Del Vecchio
Net Worth: $20.4 B
Source of wealth: eyeglasses
41. Len Blavatnik
Net Worth: $20.2 B
Source of wealth: diversified
41. Tadashi Yanai & family
Net Worth: $20.2 B
Source of wealth: retail
43. Charles Ergen
Net Worth: $20.1 B
Source of wealth: Dish Network
44. Dilip Shanghvi
Net Worth: $20 B
Source of wealth: pharmaceuticals
45. Laurene Powell Jobs & family
Net Worth: $19.5 B
Source of wealth: Apple, Disney
46. Dieter Schwarz
Net Worth: $19.4 B
Source of wealth: retail
47. Michael Dell
Net Worth: $19.2 B
Source of wealth: Dell
48. Azim Premji
Net Worth: $19.1 B
Source of wealth: software
49. Theo Albrecht Jr & family
Net Worth: $19 B
Source of wealth: Aldi, Trader Joe’s
50. Michael Otto & family
Net Worth: $18.1 B
Source of wealth: retail, real estate
51. Paul Allen
Net Worth: $17.5 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft, investments
52. Joseph Safra
Net Worth: $17.3 B
Source of wealth: banking
53. Anne Cox Chambers
Net Worth: $17 B
Source of wealth: media
54. Susanne Klatten
Net Worth: $16.8 B
Source of wealth: BMW, pharmaceuticals
55. Pallonji Mistry
Net Worth: $16.3 B
Source of wealth: construction
56. Ma Huateng
Net Worth: $16.1 B
Source of wealth: internet media
57. Patrick Drahi
Net Worth: $16 B
Source of wealth: Telecom
58. Thomas & Raymond Kwok
Net Worth: $15.9 B
Source of wealth: real estate
59. Stefan Quandt
Net Worth: $15.6 B
Source of wealth: BMW
60. Ray Dalio
Net Worth: $15.4 B
Source of wealth: hedge funds
60. Vladimir Potanin
Net Worth: $15.4 B
Source of wealth: metals
62. Serge Dassault & family
Net Worth: $15.3 B
Source of wealth: aviation
62. Robin Li
Net Worth: $15.3 B
Source of wealth: internet search
64. Donald Bren
Net Worth: $15.2 B
Source of wealth: real estate
65. Francois Pinault & family
Net Worth: $14.9 B
Source of wealth: retail
66. Shiv Nadar
Net Worth: $14.8 B
Source of wealth: information technology
67. Aliko Dangote
Net Worth: $14.7 B
Source of wealth: cement, sugar, flour
68. Mikhail Fridman
Net Worth: $14.6 B
Source of wealth: oil, banking, telecom
69. Hinduja Brothers
Net Worth: $14.5 B
Source of wealth: diversified
69. Ronald Perelman
Net Worth: $14.5 B
Source of wealth: leveraged buyouts
71. Cheng Yu-tung
Net Worth: $14.4 B
Source of wealth: diversified
71. Alisher Usmanov
Net Worth: $14.4 B
Source of wealth: steel & mining, telecom, investments
73. Henry Sy & family
Net Worth: $14.2 B
Source of wealth: diversified
73. Viktor Vekselberg
Net Worth: $14.2 B
Source of wealth: metals, energy
75. Masayoshi Son
Net Worth: $14.1 B
Source of wealth: internet, telecom
76. James Simons
Net Worth: $14 B
Source of wealth: hedge funds
77. German Larrea Mota Velasco & family
Net Worth: $13.9 B
Source of wealth: mining
77. Rupert Murdoch & family
Net Worth: $13.9 B
Source of wealth: media
77. Johanna Quandt
Net Worth: $13.9 B
Source of wealth: BMW
80. David & Simon Reuben
Net Worth: $13.7 B
Source of wealth: investments, real estate
81. Dhanin Chearavanont
Net Worth: $13.6 B
Source of wealth: food
82. Iris Fontbona & family
Net Worth: $13.5 B
Source of wealth: mining
82. Lui Che Woo
Net Worth: $13.5 B
Source of wealth: casinos
82. Lakshmi Mittal
Net Worth: $13.5 B
Source of wealth: steel
85. Abigail Johnson
Net Worth: $13.4 B
Source of wealth: money management
85. Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Net Worth: $13.4 B
Source of wealth: banking
87. Lei Jun
Net Worth: $13.2 B
Source of wealth: smartphones
87. Charoen Sirivadhanabhakdi
Net Worth: $13.2 B
Source of wealth: beverages
89. Alexey Mordashov
Net Worth: $13 B
Source of wealth: steel, investments
89. Marcel Herrmann Telles
Net Worth: $13 B
Source of wealth: beer
91. Gerald Cavendish Grosvenor & family
Net Worth: $12.6 B
Source of wealth: real estate
92. Hans Rausing
Net Worth: $12.5 B
Source of wealth: packaging
92. Jack Taylor & family
Net Worth: $12.5 B
Source of wealth: Enterprise Rent-A-Car
94. Charles Butt & family
Net Worth: $12.3 B
Source of wealth: supermarkets
94. Gina Rinehart
Net Worth: $12.3 B
Source of wealth: mining
96. Vagit Alekperov
Net Worth: $12.2 B
Source of wealth: Lukoil
96. Harold Hamm
Net Worth: $12.2 B
Source of wealth: oil & gas
96. Patrick Soon-Shiong
Net Worth: $12.2 B
Source of wealth: pharmaceuticals
99. Stefano Pessina
Net Worth: $12.1 B
Source of wealth: drugstores
