Who are the 10 richest people on earth?
The 10 richest people in the world, who are they? You just might have the invention of the century, start a company that improves the world or develop the latest software. Who knows, maybe it will get you something, maybe even villas, luxury yachts, private jets, et cetera. You must have spent years studying for it. Or not?
10. Mukesh Ambani
Although Mukesh Ambani tops the list of the 10 richest people in the world, he is the richest man in India. With assets of $76.6 billion, Ambani is a director and major shareholder of the family business called Reliance Industries. The company was founded in 1966 by his father, Dhirubhai Ambani. Since 1977, Ambani has been a part of it. The company is focused on the petrochemical, oil, gas, telecom and retail sectors.
9. Sergey Brin
In 2017, Sergey Brin was number six on the list of the top 10 richest people within the tech industry. Currently, Brin has assets of $99.7 billion. While studying computer science at Stanford University, he met Larry Page.
Together they founded what is now Alphabet. Alphabet is a group of companies. The largest of these is Google. Although Brin is no longer president of Alphabet as of December 2019, he is still a controlling shareholder and a board member.
8. Larry Ellison
For 37 years Larry Ellison headed the software company Oracle. He is a co-founder of the company and owns about 35% of the company. Meanwhile, Ellison has assets of $102.4 billion. Among other things, he has invested in a large portion of the Hawaiian island of Lanai. Fun fact: Ellison never finished college. He ended up working for the electronics company Ampex. They had a contract to create databases for the CIA that Ellison worked on. There was a code name for these databases, which was Oracle.
7. Larry Page
As the co-founder of Google, which is now under Alphabet, it’s not surprising that Larry Page is also in this list. You know the drill: the higher you rank on Google, the faster people click on your website. This Google algorithm was devised by Page and Brin. Page is also no longer CEO of Alphabet, but is still a controlling shareholder and board member. With assets of $102.8 billion, he is currently an investor of several companies, including Planetary Resources, Kitty Hawk and Opener.
6. Warren Buffet
The most successful investor of all time, Warren Buffet. Buffet is also known as the Oracle of Omaha. The fourth largest company in the world is run by him, namely Berkshire Hathaway. The company owns more than 60 other companies, mostly in the financial, transportation and energy sectors. He has assets of $108.6 billion. As much as 99% of his wealth he gives to charities and foundations.
5. Mark Zuckerberg
Most people know him: the man behind Facebook, Mark Zuckerberg. Zuckerberg founded the social media platform at the age of 19 while studying at Harvard. The purpose of Facebook was a “hot or not” idea in which college students could judge fellow students on the basis of attractiveness. Ultimately, Zuckerberg did not finish his studies. He now has assets of $118.8 billion. In 2016, his wealth made him the richest American entrepreneur under the age of 40.
4. Bill Gates
Most people will probably know him as the co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates. In 2017, he was the richest man in the tech industry. Currently, he has assets of $126.2 billion. Together with his ex-wife, he sits the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. This charity is the largest private charity in the world. Gates has donated Microsoft shares, which to date has the value of $35.8 billion.
3. Elon Musk
He’s been in the news a lot lately, and as a result he’s not an unknown to most people either. Elon Musk, the man behind SpaceX and Tesla. Currently he is working on groundbreaking transport on earth by the company Tesla and for the company Spacex he does this in space. Of both companies he is the CEO and (co)founder. He was the most innovative leader of a company in 2019. As a child, Musk taught himself to code, which earned him $500 for his first game, called Blastar. He currently has assets of $152.2 billion.
2. Bernard Arnault
With assets of $187.9 billion, the second richest man in the world works in the luxury sector. Bernard Arnault has been chairman and SEO of LVMH since 1989. The company is the largest producer of luxury goods in the world. This company includes about 70 brands, such as Louis Vuitton and Sephora.
1. Jeff Bezos
Last but definitely not least, $188.9 billion is the fortune of the richest man in the world. Jeff Bezos is the man behind company Amazon. Bezos founded Amazon in 1994, just in his garage. However, he will no longer be the CEO of the company at the end of 2021, but he will continue to work at Amazon.
He will continue as executive chairman. In addition to Amazon, Bezos also owns two other companies, The Washington Post and Blue Origin. Blue Origin is a company that develops rockets for commercial use. He recently went into space with two others.
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