The combined wealth of the 10 richest individuals in the world amounts to $1.44 trillion.
Using data from Forbes Real-Time Billionaires List, we provide a snapshot of the richest people in the world as of February 2024.
Bernard Arnault overtook Elon Musk as the richest person in 2024 due to a 21% decline in Musk’s wealth, from $245.3 billion to $194.6 billion.
The billionaire chairman and CEO of the global luxury goods company LVMH runs dozens of luxury brands such as Louis Vuitton, Sephora, and Tiffany & Co. The French businessman also has investments in businesses such as Netflix and ByteDance, the parent company of TikTok.
The cumulative net worth of the top five richest individuals grew 4% in 2023, to $904.9 billion.
Among women, the richest person, L’Oréal’s Françoise Bettencourt Meyers, saw her fortune grow by $1.2 billion in 2023.
In China, Zhong Shanshan, the chairman and founder of bottled water and beverage producer Nongfu Spring, remains the country’s richest person with a net worth of $60.5 billion.
In India, the list is topped by Mukesh Ambani. The chairman of Reliance Industries, which has interests in petrochemicals, oil and gas, telecom, retail, and financial services, has a $102.1 billion fortune.
Just as in 2023, Mark Zuckerberg saw the most significant growth in his fortune among the top 10 richest individuals. The Facebook co-founder’s net worth surged by over $45 billion by February 2024 compared to November 2023, after Meta’s latest results far exceeded Wall Street’s expectations, sending its shares up.
Zuckerberg’s net worth growth of 39% moved him from 7th to 4th, overtaking Bill Gates, Warren Buffett, and Larry Ellison.
Meanwhile, Larry Ellison, Oracle’s chief technology officer and former CEO, saw his net worth retreat by $3 billion after the company reported disappointing revenue in 2023.
Rank | Richest Overall | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Bernard Arnault & family | $212.1B | LVMH | France |
2 | Elon Musk | $194.6B | Tesla, SpaceX | United States |
3 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | United States |
4 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | United States | |
5 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | United States |
6 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | United States |
7 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | United States |
8 | Larry Page | $120.3B | United States | |
9 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | United States |
10 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | United States | |
Rank | Richest Women | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Francoise Bettencourt Meyers & family | $99.5B | L'Oréal | France |
2 | Alice Walton | $64.8B | Walmart | United States |
3 | Julia Koch & family | $60.1B | Koch Industries | United States |
4 | Jacqueline Mars | $39.8B | Candy, pet food | United States |
5 | MacKenzie Scott | $34.5B | Amazon | United States |
6 | Miriam Adelson & family | $33.8B | Casinos | United States |
7 | Gina Rinehart | $30.2B | Mining | Australia |
8 | Rafaela Aponte-Diamant | $30.0B | Shipping | Switzerland |
9 | Savitri Jindal & family | $29.4B | Steel | India |
10 | Abigail Johnson | $28.6B | Fidelity | United States |
Rank | Richest in China | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Zhong Shanshan | $60.5B | Beverages, pharmaceuticals | China |
2 | Zhang Yiming | $43.4B | TikTok | China |
3 | Colin Huang | $42.7B | E-commerce | China |
4 | William Ding | $32.0B | Online games | China |
5 | Ma Huateng | $30.8B | Online games | China |
6 | Jack Ma | $24.6B | E-commerce | China |
7 | He Xiangjian & family | $23.0B | Home appliances | China |
8 | Eric Li | $14.5B | Automobiles | China |
9 | Qin Yinglin | $14.3B | Pig breeding | China |
10 | Wang Wei | $12.9B | Package delivery | China |
Rank | Richest in India | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Mukesh Ambani | $112.1B | Diversified | India |
2 | Gautam Adani | $79.0B | Infrastructure, commodities | India |
3 | Shiv Nadar | $34.9B | software services | India |
4 | Savitri Jindal & family | $29.4B | Steel | India |
5 | Cyrus Poonawalla | $25.2B | Vaccines | India |
6 | Dilip Shanghvi | $24.4B | Pharmaceuticals | India |
7 | Kumar Birla | $19.6B | Commodities | India |
8 | Kushal Pal Singh | $17.9B | Real estate | India |
9 | Lakshmi Mittal | $16.7B | Steel | India |
10 | Radhakishan Damani | $16.7B | Retail, investments | India |
Rank | Richest in Tech | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Jeff Bezos | $192.4B | Amazon | United States |
2 | Mark Zuckerberg | $161.8B | United States | |
3 | Larry Ellison | $144.0B | Oracle | United States |
4 | Bill Gates | $123.1B | Microsoft | United States |
5 | Larry Page | $120.3B | United States | |
6 | Steve Ballmer | $119.2B | Microsoft | United States |
7 | Sergey Brin | $115.4B | United States | |
8 | Michael Dell | $72.9B | Dell Technologies | United States |
9 | Jensen Huang | $61.4B | Nvidia | United States |
10 | Zhang Yiming | $43.4B | TikTok | China |
Rank | Richest in Finance | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Warren Buffett | $128.7B | Berkshire Hathaway | United States |
2 | Michael Bloomberg | $96.3B | Bloomberg LP | United States |
3 | Ken Griffin | $37.2B | Hedge funds | United States |
4 | Stephen Schwarzman | $36.8B | Investments | United States |
5 | Jim Simons | $30.7B | Hedge funds | United States |
8 | Thomas Peterffy | $29.4B | Discount brokerage | United States |
6 | Jeff Yass | $28.9B | Trading, investments | United States |
7 | Abigail Johnson | $28.3B | Fidelity | United States |
9 | R. Budi Hartono | $25.8B | Banking, tobacco | Indonesia |
10 | Daniel Gilbert | $24.8B | Quicken Loans | United States |
Rank | Richest in Media | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | David Thomson & family | $62.0B | Media | Canada |
2 | Rupert Murdoch & family | $18.6B | Newspapers, TV network | United States |
3 | Donald Newhouse | $11.2B | Media | United States |
4 | John Malone | $9.9B | Cable television | United States |
5 | David Geffen | $8.1B | Movies, record labels | United States |
6 | Dmitri Bukhman | $6.8B | Online games | Israel |
7 | Igor Bukhman | $6.8B | Online games | Israel |
8 | Blair Parry-Okeden | $6.4B | Media, automotive | United States |
9 | Jim Kennedy | $6.4B | Media, automotive | United States |
10 | Mark Cuban | $6.2B | Online media, Dallas Mavericks | United States |
Rank | Richest in Sports | Net Worth | Source | Country |
1 | Stanley Kroenke | $15.7B | Sports, real estate | United States |
2 | Jerry Jones | $13.6B | Dallas Cowboys | United States |
3 | Robert Kraft | $11.1B | Manufacturing, New England Patriots | United States |
4 | Arthur Blank | $8.2B | Home Depot | United States |
5 | Stephen Bisciotti | $7.2B | Staffing, Baltimore Ravens | United States |
6 | Gayle Benson | $6.1B | New Orleans Saints | United States |
7 | Denise York & family | $5.8B | San Francisco 49ers | United States |
8 | Janice McNair | $5.6B | Energy, sports | United States |
9 | John Henry | $5.1B | Sports | United States |
10 | Arturo Moreno | $4.9B | Billboards, Los Angeles Angels | United States |
Data accessed Feb 1, 2024
https://www.forbes.com/real-time-billionaires/#1c4e2daf3d78