The 10 Richest People in
the World 2022
Billionaires play an outsized role in
shaping the global economy, politics, and philanthropy. Forbes puts the number
of billionaires in the world at 2,668 in 2022.1 The wealthiest among them belong to an even
more exclusive club and wield still more power. Many of these billionaires are
founders of technology giants, with much of their wealth still invested in the
companies they started.2
They can, however, still borrow
against that wealth to avoid selling stock, deferring (or eliminating for
heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains in the process.3 Multi-billionaires can
also take advantage of a panoply of tax deductions to offset reported income,
leaving some on this list paying no income tax in recent years.4
With so much of their wealth in
publicly traded stocks, the net worth of the richest can fluctuate with market
valuations. For example, Elon Musk, founder and chief executive officer (CEO)
of Tesla (TSLA) and the richest person in the world saw
his net worth surge in 2021 thanks to the
increase in the share price of Tesla (where he currently owns 16% of the
company)—with Tesla shares rising nearly 50% in 2021. His net worth as of
September 2022 was $241 billion.526
In contrast, Meta Platforms (META) founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg fell out
of the top 10 in February 2022, when the company's share price plunged after a
disappointing earnings report. Zuckerberg's net worth was reported to be $59.7
billion in September 2022.72
Below are the 10 wealthiest
people on the planet as of the same date, according to the Bloomberg
Billionaires Index. All figures are current as of Sept. 5, 2022, unless
otherwise stated.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
- Elon Musk, the co-founder
and CEO of Tesla, is the richest person in the world with a net worth of
$241 billion.6
- Behind Musk is the founder
of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, with an estimated net worth of $151 billion.8
- Billionaires with the
largest increases in their wealth in 2021 included Musk, LVMH Chair and
CEO Bernard Arnault, Google co-founder Larry Page, and L'Oreal heir
Francoise Bettencourt Meyers.
- Six of the top 10
billionaires made their fortunes in technology, with Arnault, Berkshire
Hathaway's Warren Buffett, and Adani Group founder Gautam Adani being the
exceptions.2
- Meta's
Mark Zuckerberg dropped off the top 10 list in February 2022.
1. Elon Musk
- Age: 51
- Residence: Texas
- Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
- Net Worth: $241 billion
- Tesla Ownership Stake: 15% ($108 billion)
- Other Assets: Space Exploration Technologies ($46.9 billion private asset), The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset), Twitter ($3 billion public asset), $17.9 billion in cash9106
Elon Musk was born in South Africa and
attended a university in Canada before transferring to the University of
Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor's degrees in physics and economics. Two
days after enrolling in a graduate physics program at Stanford University, Musk
deferred attendance to launch Zip2, one of the earliest online navigation
services. He reinvested a portion of the proceeds from this startup to create
X.com, the online payment system that was sold to eBay (EBAY) and ultimately became PayPal Holdings (PYPL).11
In 2004, Musk became a major
funder of Tesla Motors (now Tesla), which led to his current position as CEO of
the electric vehicle company.12 In
addition to its line of electric automobiles, Tesla also produces energy
storage devices, automobile accessories, and, through its acquisition of SolarCity in 2016, solar
power systems.13 Musk
is also CEO and chief engineer of Space Exploration Technologies (SpaceX), a
developer of space launch rockets.11
In 2020, Tesla shares soared 740%
to propel Musk up the wealth rankings. In December 2020, Tesla joined the S&P
500, becoming the largest company added. In January 2021, Musk
became the richest person in the world—a title he's held since.614
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Saul Martinez.
In a Nov. 6, 2021 tweet, Musk
asked his Twitter (TWTR) audience whether
he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock, framing the issue as a response to
criticism of unrealized capital gains as a means of avoiding taxes.15 He proceeded to sell
shares worth $16.4 billion over the remainder of 2021.16
U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, a
Massachusetts Democrat, cited a media report that Musk paid no income tax for
2018 to argue for the adoption of a wealth tax. "And if you opened your
eyes for 2 seconds, you would realize I will pay more taxes than any American
in history this year," Musk responded on Twitter.17
Thanks to the surge in Tesla
shares in 2021 and private transactions boosting the reported valuation of
SpaceX, Musk's lead in the global wealth rankings has continued to grow. His
net worth hit a high of $340 billion in November 2021.2
In April 2022, Musk began a campaign to take Twitter private,
which culminated in a $44 billion buyout. Musk planned to fund the deal with
$21 billion of his own capital. In the run-up to the buyout announcement, Musk
sold 9.6 million shares of Tesla, valued at roughly $8.5 billion.1819
In July 2022, Musk decided to
back out of the Twitter buyout. As a result, Twitter filed a lawsuit against
Musk to force the buyout to go through—then Musk countersued the company.20
2. Jeff Bezos
- Age: 58
- Residence: Washington
- Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon (AMZN)
- Net Worth: $151 billion
- Amazon Ownership
Stake: 10%
($127 billion)
- Other Assets: Blue Origin ($9.15
billion private asset), The Washington Post ($250 million
private asset), and $14.5 billion in cash8
In 1994, Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in a
garage in Seattle, shortly after he resigned from the hedge fund giant D.E.
Shaw.21 He had
originally pitched the idea of an online bookstore to his former boss
David E. Shaw, who wasn’t interested.22
Though Amazon originally
started out selling books, it has since morphed into a one-stop shop for
everything under the sun and is arguably the world’s largest retailer.
Amazon's pattern of constant diversification is evident in some of
its unexpected expansions, which include acquiring Whole Foods in
2017 and entering the pharmacy business the same year.2324
Bezos owned as much as 16% of
Amazon in 2019 before transferring 4% to former wife MacKenzie Scott as part of
the divorce proceedings. In 2020, Amazon’s share price jumped 76% on the
heightened demand for online shopping amid the COVID-19 pandemic. On July 5, 2021, Bezos stepped down
as CEO of the e-commerce giant, becoming its executive
chair.825
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Alex Wong.
Bezos originally took Amazon
public in 1997 and went on to become the first man since Bill Gates in 1999 to
achieve a net worth of more than $100 billion.26 Bezos’ other projects include aerospace
company Blue Origin, The Washington Post (which he purchased in
2013), and the 10,000-year clock—also known as the Long Now.2728
On July 20, 2021, Bezos, his
brother Mark, aviation pioneer Wally Funk, and Dutch student Oliver Daemen
completed Blue Origin's first successful crewed flight, reaching an altitude of
more than 66 miles before landing safely. Bezos' wealth peaked at $211 billion
in the same month.82930
3. Gautam Adani
- Age: 60
- Residence: Gurgaon, India
- Founder and Chair: Adani Group
- Net Worth: $141 billion
- Adani Enterprises, Power.
and Transmissions Ownership Stakes: 75% each ($81.4 billion)
- Other Assets: 65% of Adani Ports &
Special Economic Zone ($12.9 billion public asset), 61% of Adani Green
Energy ($27.6 billion public asset), 37% of Adani Total Gas ($18.2 billion
public asset)31
Gautam Adani, the founder of
Adani Group, surpassed Mukesh Ambani in March 2022 as the richest person in
Asia. Adani, via his ownership of Adani Group, owns major stakes in six key
Indian companies, including a 75% stake in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and
Adani Transmissions, as well as a 65% stake in Adani Ports & Special
Economic Zone, 61% stake in Adani Green Energy, and 37% stake in Adani Total
Gas.31
The combined market capitalization of companies owned
by the Adani Group is $238.4 billion (as of Sept. 6, 2022). Adani entered the
power generation market in 2009 with Adani Power. Adani created Adani
Enterprises in 1988 to import and export commodities. In 1994, his company was granted
approval to develop a harbor facility at Mundra Port, which is now the largest
private port in India.3231
Adani dropped out of college and
previously worked in the diamond trade. Now, Adani has the largest port
operator, closely-held thermal coal producer, and coal trader in India. In
2020, he purchased a 74% stake in Mumbai's Chhatrapati Shivaji International
Airport, India's second-busiest airport. The billionaire was kidnapped and held
for ransom in 1997. Adani was also in Mumbai’s Taj hotel during the 2008
terrorist attack.3331
4. Bernard Arnault
- Age: 73
- Residence: Paris
- CEO and Chair: LVMH (LVMUY)
- Net Worth: $132 billion
- Christian Dior Ownership
Stake: 97.5%
($107 billion total)
- Other Assets: Moelis & Company equity ($19.8 billion public asset), Hermès equity (undisclosed stake), and $9.1 billion in cash34
French national Bernard Arnault is the chair and CEO of
LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods company. LVMH owns brands
including Louis Vuitton, Hennessey, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora.35
Most of Arnault's wealth comes
from his massive stake in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that controls 41.2% of
LVMH.36 His shares
in Christian Dior SE, plus an additional 6.2% in LVMH, are held through his
family-owned holding company, Groupe Familial Arnault.34
An engineer by training, Arnault
first showed his business acumen while working for his father’s construction
firm, Ferret-Savinel, taking charge of the company in 1971. He converted
Ferret-Savinel to a real estate company named Férinel Inc. in 1979.37
Image
courtesy Getty/Christophe Morin.
Arnault remained Férinel's
chair for another six years, until he acquired and reorganized luxury goods
maker Financière Agache in 1984, eventually selling all its holdings other
than Christian Dior and Le Bon Marché.38 He was invited to invest in LVMH in 1987
and became the majority shareholder, chair of the board, and CEO of the company
two years later.39
5. Bill Gates
- Age: 66
- Residence: Washington
- Co-founder: Microsoft (MSFT)
- Net Worth: $114 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 1.3% ($26.4 billion)
- Other Assets: Cascade Investment LLC
($51.7 billion public assets), $54.2 billion in cash40
While attending Harvard
University in 1975, Bill Gates went to work alongside his
childhood friend Paul Allen to develop new software for the original
microcomputers. Following this project’s success, Gates dropped out of Harvard
during his junior year and went on to found Microsoft with Allen.4142
The largest software company in
the world, Microsoft also produces its line of personal computers, publishes
books through Microsoft Press, provides email services through its Exchange
server, and sells video game systems and associated peripheral devices.434445 Originally
Microsoft's chief software architect, Gates shifted to the role of board chair
in 2008. He had joined Berkshire Hathaway’s board in 2004.46 He stepped down from
both boards on March 13, 2020.4748
Bill Gates has much of his net
worth in Cascade Investment LLC. Cascade is a
privately-held investment vehicle that owns a variety of stocks including
Canadian National Railway (CNR), Deere (DE), and Republic Services (RSG), as well as private investments in real
estate and energy.40
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Jack Taylor.
In 2000, Gates' two philanthropic
organizations—the William H. Gates Foundation and the Gates Learning
Foundation—merged to create the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, still
co-chaired by Gates and his ex-wife, Melinda French Gates.4950 Through the
foundation, they have spent billions to fight polio and malaria.51 The foundation
pledged $50 million in 2014 to help fight Ebola.52 As of 2021, the foundation had spent more
than $1.9 billion to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.53
In 2010, alongside Warren
Buffett, Bill Gates launched the Giving Pledge, a campaign encouraging the
wealthy to commit to donating most of their wealth to philanthropic causes.54 Bill and Melinda
French Gates divorced on Aug. 2, 2021.55 With the divorce, roughly $5 billion in equities were
transferred to French Gates.40 Bill
Gates is also largest private owner of farmland in the U.S. with over 268,000
acres.56
6. Larry Page
- Age: 49
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $98.7 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($84.4 billion
total)
- Other Assets: $14.4 billion in cash57
Like several tech billionaires on
this list, Larry Page embarked on his path to fame
and fortune in a college dorm room. While attending Stanford University in
1995, Page and his friend Sergey Brin came up with the idea
of improving internet data extraction. The duo devised a new search
engine technology they dubbed Backrub, named after its ability to analyze
backing links. From there, Page and Brin went on to found Google in 1998, with
Page serving as CEO of the company until 2001, and again between 2011 and 2019.5859
Google is the dominant internet
search engine, accounting for more than 92% of global search requests.60 In 2006, the company
purchased YouTube, the top platform for user-submitted videos.61 After acquiring
Android in 2005, Google released the Android mobile phone operating system in
2008.6263 Google
reorganized in 2015, becoming a subsidiary of Alphabet, a holding
company.64
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Justin Sullivan.
Page was among early investors in
Planetary Resources, a space exploration and asteroid-mining company.
Established in 2009, the company was acquired by blockchain firm ConsenSys in
2018 amid funding problems.65
He has also shown an interest in
flying car companies, investing in both Kitty Hawk and Opener. Shares of Google
soared almost 50% in 2021, moving Page and Brin up the billionaire list. Page's
net worth went from just below $52 billion in March 2020 to the current $98.7
billion.5766
7. Warren Buffett
- Age: 92
- Residence: Nebraska
- CEO: Berkshire Hathaway (BRK.A)
- Net Worth: $102 billion
- Berkshire Hathaway Ownership
Stake: 16%
($95.7 billion)
- Other Assets: $1.05 billion in cash67
The most famous living value
investor, Warren Buffett filed his first tax return
in 1944 at age 14, declaring earnings from his boyhood paper route.68 He first bought
shares in a textile company called Berkshire Hathaway in 1962, becoming the
majority shareholder by 1965. He expanded the company to insurance and other
investments in 1967. Now Berkshire Hathaway is a $705 billion-dollar market cap
company, with a single share of stock (Class A shares) trading at more than
$439,000 as of Aug. 5, 2022.6970
Widely known as the Oracle of
Omaha, Buffett is a buy-and-hold investor who built his fortune by
acquiring undervalued companies.69 More recently,
Berkshire Hathaway has invested in large, well-known companies.71 Its portfolio of
wholly owned subsidiaries includes interests in insurance, energy distribution,
and railroads as well as consumer products.72 Buffett is a noted Bitcoin skeptic.73
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Alex Wong.
Buffett has dedicated much of his
wealth to philanthropy. Between 2006 and 2020, he gave away $41 billion—mostly
to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his children’s charities.74 Buffett launched the
Giving Pledge alongside Bill Gates in 2010.54 Buffett, 92 years old, still serves as
CEO, but in 2021 he hinted at who might be his successor—Gregory Abel. Abel is
the head of Berkshire’s non-insurance operations.
8. Sergey Brin
- Age: 49
- Residence: California
- Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet (GOOG)
- Net Worth: $94.4 billion
- Alphabet Ownership Stake: 6% ($80 billion total)
- Other Assets: $14.4 billion in cash75
Sergey Brin was born in Moscow,
Russia, moving to the U.S. with his family when he was six in 1979. After
co-founding Google with Larry Page in 1998, Brin became Google's president of
technology when Eric Schmidt took over as CEO in 2001. He held the same post at
the Alphabet holding company after it was established in 2015, stepping down in
2019 when Sundar Pichai took over as CEO.7677
In addition to its dominant
internet search engine, Google offers a suite of online tools and services
known as Google Workspace, which includes Gmail, Google Drive, Google Calendar,
Google Meet, Google Chat, Google Docs, Google Sheets, Google Slides, and more.78 Google also offers a
variety of electronic devices, including Pixel smartphones, computers, and
tablets, Nest smart home devices, and Stadia gaming platform.79
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Tim Mosenfelder.
Brin spent much of 2019 focusing
on X, Alphabet’s research laboratory responsible for innovative technologies
like Waymo self-driving cars and Google Glass smart glasses.80 He has also donated
millions of dollars to Parkinson’s disease research, partnering with The
Michael J. Fox Foundation.81
9. Larry Ellison
- Age: 78
- Residence: Hawaii
- Co-founder, Chair, and CTO: Oracle (ORCL)
- Net Worth: $92.7 billion
- Oracle Ownership Stake: 40%+ ($62.8 billion)
- Other Assets: Tesla equity ($12.2
billion public asset), $17.1 billion in cash and real estate82
Larry Ellison was born in New York City
to a 19-year-old single mother. After dropping out of the University of Chicago
in 1966, Ellison moved to California and worked as a computer programmer. In
1973 he joined the electronics company Ampex, where he met future partners Ed
Oates and Bob Miner. Three years later, Ellison moved to Precision Instruments,
serving as the company’s vice president of research and development.83
In 1977, Ellison founded Software
Development Laboratories alongside Oates and Miner. Two years later, the
company released Oracle, the first commercial relational database program to
use Structured Query Language.80 The database program proved so popular that
SDL would change its name to Oracle Systems Corporation in 1982. Ellison gave
up the CEO role at Oracle in 2014 after 37 years. He joined Tesla's board in
December 2018.84
Oracle is the world's
second-largest software company, providing a wide variety of cloud computing
programs as well as Java and Linux code and the Oracle Exadata computing
platform.858687
Oracle has acquired numerous
large companies, including human resources management systems provider
PeopleSoft in 2005, customer relationship management applications provider
Siebel in 2006, enterprise infrastructure software provider BEA Systems in
2008, and hardware-and-software developer Sun Microsystems in 2009.88 In December 2021,
Oracle agreed to buy medical records software provider Cerner (CERN) for $28.3 billion in cash.89
Long known for extravagant spending, Ellison has invested heavily in luxury real estate over the last decade.
Perhaps his single most impressive acquisition was the $300 million purchase of
nearly the entire Hawaiian island of Lanai in 2012, where the billionaire has
lived since 2020.84 Ellison
has built a hydroponics farm and a luxury spa on the island.90
Ellison has focused his
philanthropy on medical research. In 2016, he gave $200 million to the
University of Southern California for a new cancer research center.91 Ellison backed the
Oracle Team USA sailing team, which won the America's Cup racing series in 2010
and 2013.92
10. Steve Ballmer
- Age: 66
- Residence: Washington
- Owner: Los Angeles Clippers
- Net Worth: $90.7 billion
- Microsoft Ownership Stake: 4% ($81.7 billion
total)
- Other Assets: Los Angeles Clippers
($3.16 billion private asset), $5.8 billion in cash93
Steve Ballmer joined Microsoft in
1980 after Bill Gates convinced him to drop out of Stanford University's MBA
program. He was Microsoft's 30th employee. Ballmer went on to succeed Gates as
Microsoft CEO in 2000. He held the position until stepping down in 2014.
Ballmer oversaw Microsoft's 2011 purchase of Skype for $8.5 billion.94
Ballmer owns an estimated 4% of
Microsoft, making him the software giant's largest individual shareholder. In
2014, shortly after stepping down as Microsoft CEO, Ballmer purchased the Los
Angeles Clippers basketball team for $2 billion.93
Image
courtesy Getty Images/Steven Ferdman.
Ballmer lived in the same dorm
and on the same floor as Bill Gates while the two attended Harvard University.
The brotherly relationship between the two became strained when Ballmer started
pushing the tech company into hardware, such as the Surface tablet and the
Windows mobile phone, during his tenure as CEO.95