“If you don’t find a way to make money while you sleep, you will work until you die,” is a famous quote from the legendary American investor Warren Buffett. Looking at the personal wealth of the richest people on the planet, we could say that they can sleep all day without worrying about anything. However, billionaires very often still work hard for 15-16 hours a day, focused on multiple projects at once, such as the richest man in the world, Elon Musk. Because, as he once said, ‘nobody ever changed the world on 40 hours a week’.
According to Forbes, the world’s billionaires will number 2,668 at the end of 2022.
Many of them are the founders of technology behemoths, with a large portion of their fortune still invested in the firms they founded. But some of the list of the world’s billionaires are simply ultra-rich heirs and enjoy the benefits of their wealth to the fullest, possibly engaging in charitable activities, etc.
The richest people might gain or lose billions in one day
With so much of their money invested in publicly traded equities, the richest people’s net worth might change with market prices. For example, Musk’s net worth increased by roughly 50% in 2021 as the share price of Tesla jumped nearly 50%. He now controls 16% of the corporation. According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, his net worth as of November 24 was $180 billion.
In comparison, Meta Platforms founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg dropped out of the top ten in February 2022, after the company’s share price plummeted following a dismal financial report. As of November 24, Zuckerberg’s net worth was estimated to be $42.8 billion and he is presently ranked 27th on the list of world’s richest persons.
According to the Bloomberg Billionaires Index, the ten wealthiest persons on the globe as of the same day are listed below. Unless otherwise specified, all numbers are current as of November 24, 2022.
1. Elon Musk
Age: 51
Residence: Texas state, US
Co-founder and CEO: Tesla
Net Worth: $180 billion
Elon Musk is the world’s richest person. He was born in South Africa and attended a Canadian university before enrolling at the University of Pennsylvania, where he obtained bachelor’s degrees in physics and economics. Musk dropped out of Stanford University’s graduate physics program two days later to establish Zip2, one of the first internet navigation services. He used a portion of the earnings from this firm to launch X.com, an online payment system that was later acquired by eBay and renamed PayPal Holdings.
Elon Musk cofounded six businesses, including Tesla, SpaceX, and the Boring Company, a tunneling venture. He owns around 25% of Tesla through stock and options, but has pledged more than half of his shares as security for loans.
After a fundraising round in May 2022, SpaceX is valued $127 billion, having tripled its value in three years. Boring Company, which seeks to eliminate traffic, received $675 million in April 2022 at a valuation of $5.7 billion.
After Musk declared a 9.1% ownership and threatened a hostile takeover, Twitter’s board decided to sell the firm to Musk for $44 billion in April 2022. After Musk tried to back out and Twitter sued, the acquisition was finalized in October 2022. Musk currently controls around 82% of the corporation.
2. Bernard Arnault
Age: 73
Residence: Paris, France
CEO and Chair: LVMH Moët Hennessy Louis Vuitton
Net Worth: $159 billion
Bernard Arnault, a French native, is the chair and CEO of LVMH, the world’s largest luxury goods firm. Bernard Arnault is the CEO of the LVMH empire, which includes 70 fashion and cosmetics companies such as Louis Vuitton and Sephora. The majority of Arnault’s fortune stems from his enormous investment in Christian Dior SE, the holding company that owns 41.2% of LVMH. 23 His stake in Christian Dior SE, as well as a 6.2% stake in LVMH, is held through his family-owned holding firm, Groupe Familial Arnault.
In January 2021, LVMH paid $15.8 billion for American jeweler Tiffany & Co, the largest luxury brand purchase ever.
In 2019, LVMH paid $3.2 billion buying the premium hospitality company Belmond, which owns or runs 46 hotels, trains, and river cruises.
Arnault got his start by putting up $15 million from his father’s construction firm to acquire Christian Dior in 1985.
Frédéric, Delphine, Antoine, and Alexandre, four of Arnault’s five children, work in various parts of the LVMH empire.
3. Gautam Adani
Age: 60
Residence: Gurgaon, India
Founder and Chair: Adani Group
Net Worth: $128 billion
Gautam Adani, the founder of Adani Group, overtook Mukesh Ambani as Asia’s richest person in March 2022. Adani holds large investments in six prominent Indian enterprises through his Adani Group, including a 75% share in Adani Enterprises, Adani Power, and Adani Transmissions, as well as a 65% position in Adani Ports & Special Economic Zone, a 61% stake in Adani Green Energy, and a 37% stake in Adani Total Gas.
Adani owns India’s largest port, Mundra, in his native state of Gujarat. In September 2020, Adani purchased a 74% share in Mumbai International Airport, India’s second busiest. He is presently the largest airport operator in the country.
Adani will become India’s second-largest cement maker after acquiring Swiss business Holcim’s Indian operations for $10.5 billion in 2022. Adani aspires to be the world’s greatest producer of renewable energy and has stated that he will invest up to $70 billion in renewable energy projects.
4. Jeff Bezos
Age: 58
Residence: Washington state, US
Founder and Executive Chair: Amazon
Net Worth: $117 billion
Jeff Bezos launched e-commerce behemoth Amazon in his Seattle garage in 1994. In July 2021, he stepped down as CEO to become executive chairman. He now owns little under 10% of the corporation.
Bezos took Amazon public in 1997 and went on to become the first guy to have a net worth of more than $100 billion since Bill Gates in 1999.
In 2022, Bezos contributed more than $400 million in stock to NGOs, however it is unknown whose groups received the shares.
Bezos controls The Washington Post and Blue Origin, an aerospace business that develops rockets; he traveled into space in one for a brief while in July 2021. In a November 2022 interview with CNN, he stated that he intends to give away the majority of his money throughout his lifetime, without providing specifics.
After 25 years of marriage, Bezos and his wife MacKenzie split in 2019, and he gave her a quarter of his then-16% Amazon stock.
5. Bill Gates
Age: 67
Residence: Washington state, US
Co-founder: Microsoft
Net Worth: $115 billion
While attending Harvard University in 1975, Bill Gates began working with his childhood friend Paul Allen to develop new software for early microcomputers. Following the success of this effort, Gates dropped out of Harvard during his junior year to co-found Microsoft with Allen.
Microsoft, the world’s largest software firm, also manufactures personal computers, offers email services via its Exchange server, and sells video game consoles and associated game devices. It has lately made significant investments in cloud services.
When Gates stepped away from the Microsoft board in March 2020, he controlled around 1.3% of the software and computing company’s shares.
He has invested in dozens of enterprises, including Republic Services and Deere & Company, and is one of the largest agricultural owners in the United States.
To far, Gates has given the Gates Foundation more than $59 billion, including a $20 billion grant announced in July 2022. The majority of his early contributions were in the form of Microsoft shares.
Bill and Melinda Gates announced on Twitter in May 2021 that they were terminating their 27-year marriage. They continue to serve as co-chairs of the nonprofit Gates Foundation.
6. Warren Buffett
Age: 92
Residence: Nebraska state,US
CEO: Berkshire Hathaway
Net Worth: $110 billion
Warren Buffett, the most renowned living value investor, was son on of a U.S. congressman, and he purchased his first stock at age 11, filling his first tax return at age 13.
In 1962, he purchased shares in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile firm, and by 1965, he had become the dominant stakeholder. In 1967, Buffett extended the company’s assets to include insurance and other ventures.
Warren Buffett, sometimes known as the “Oracle of Omaha,” is one of the most successful investors of all time. Buffett is the CEO of Berkshire Hathaway, which controls a slew of businesses, including insurer Geico, battery manufacturer Duracell, and food chain Dairy Queen. Berkshire Hathaway today has a market capitalization of $695 billion, with a single share of stock (Class A shares) selling for more than $477,000 as of November 24, 2022.
Buffett has pledged to contribute over 99% of his fortune. So date, he has donated more than $49 billion, the most of which has gone to the Gates Foundation and his children’s charities. In 2010, he and Bill Gates founded the Giving Pledge, which asked billionaires to pledge to donate at least half of their fortune to philanthropic organizations.
7. Larry Ellison
Age: 78
Residence: Hawaii state, US
Co-founder, Chair, and CTO: Oracle
Net Worth: $95.7 billion
Larry Ellison is the chairman, chief technology officer, and cofounder of software behemoth Oracle, of which he controls around 35 percent. He resigned as CEO of Oracle in 2014 after 37 years at the helm.
Oracle has expanded in part by consistent purchases of software firms, the largest of which being Cerner’s $28.3 billion purchase in 2021.
Ellison, who has a history of lavish spending, has invested substantially in luxury real estate over the past decade. The billionaire’s purchase of practically the whole Hawaiian island of Lanai for $300 million in 2012, where he has resided since 2020, was arguably his most stunning buy. On the island, Ellison has constructed a hydroponics farm and a luxury spa.
Ellison has mostly donated to medical research. In 2016, he offered the University of Southern California $200 million to establish a new cancer research center.
From December 2018 through August 2022, Ellison sat on the board of Tesla. He still holds around 15 million shares of the electric vehicle manufacturer.
8. Larry Page
Age: 49
Residence: California state, US
Co-founder and Board Member: Alphabet
Net Worth: $91.0 billion
Larry Page, like many of the other tech billionaires on our list, began his journey to success and fortune in a college dorm room. While attending Stanford University in 1995, Page and his buddy Sergey Brin came up with the idea of enhanced internet data extraction. The pair created Backrub, a new search engine technology named after its capacity to evaluate connections to a page.
Page and Brin later co-founded Google in 1998, with Page serving as CEO until 2001, and then again from 2011 to 2019.
Larry Page resigned as CEO of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, in December 2019, but he remains a board member and major shareholder.
Google is the world’s most popular internet search engine, handling more than 92% of all global search requests. The business bought YouTube, the leading platform for user-submitted videos, in 2006. Google introduced the Android mobile phone operating system in 2008, after purchasing Android in 2005.
In 2015, Google restructured as a subsidiary of Alphabet, a holding corporation.
9. Mukesh Ambani
Age: 65
Residence: Mumbai, India
Owner: Reliance Industries
Net Worth: $88.4 billion
Mukesh Ambani is the chairman and chief executive officer of Reliance Industries, the largest oil refiner in the world and one of the most valuable companies.
The conglomerate was founded as a textiles company in 1966 by Ambani’s father, Dhirubhai Ambani. Nowadays, it is one of India’s most important economic sectors. Reliance’s business portfolio includes oil and gas, petrochemicals, refining, retail, and media.
Ambani’s riches derives in great part from his 42% stake in Reliance, a publicly traded company. He owns the $410 million Mumbai real estate complex Antilia. In addition, Ambani owns the professional cricket side Mumbai Indians.
In 2016, Ambani created a 4G phone network in India with over 420 million users, and he intends to offer 5G services.
Ambani has announced his succession plan, with his son Akash acting as chairman of Reliance Jio. His daughter Isha is heading retail, and his younger son Anant joined the new energy company.
10. Steve Ballmer
Age: 66
Residence: Washington state, US
Former CEO: Microsoft
Net Worth: $88.1 billion
Former Microsoft CEO Steve Ballmer is a powerful figure in the tech industry. He served in this role from 2000 to 2014. When he decided to leave Stanford’s MBA school, Microsoft was there to pick him up as employee number 30 in 1980.
After Roberto Goizueta, Steve Ballmer became the second person to become a billionaire in the United States only from stock options obtained through employment with a company in which he neither had a founding position nor was a close relative of a founding member.
Ballmer led Microsoft through its attempts to catch up to Google and Apple in the search and mobile phone markets following the first dot-com disaster. It was the same year he left Microsoft that he spent $2 billion for the NBA’s Los Angeles Clippers.
Since 2014, he has significantly increased his philanthropic efforts. Ballmer invested nearly $2 billion in a donor-advised fund with the goal of helping to eradicate poverty in the United States. He put $59 million into the software company Social Solutions in 2018.
