This year, FORBES’ ranking of the world’s richest billionaires hit a record: 1,826 10-digit fortunes that hail from 68 countries. That’s more than a 13-fold increase from the first global wealth list in 1987, when we found 140 billionaires from 24 countries.
While our ranking’s roster continued to expand this year, only 8 out of 70 countries crowned a new richest person for their nations: Germany, Greece, Japan, Norway, Peru, Russia, Tanzania, and the United Kingdom. Japan’s fashion mogul Tadashi Yani took over the country’s richest title from Softbank’s Masayoshi Son, thanks to the rapid global expansion of his core brand Uniqlo. Vladimir Potanin, whose fortune rose $2.8 billion despite Russia’s rough year, gained the top spot while Alisher Usmanov, who held the crown for the past few years, slipped to third place (No. 71 on the whole list).
As wealth reaches new corners of the world, two countries joined the rank this year. Guatemala’s Mario Lopez Estrada (No. 1741) debuted with a $1 billion fortune as he fights for his country’s mobile phone market against the world’s second-richest man Carlos Slim Helu. Iceland’s sole billionaire Thor Bjorgolfsson made a comeback, returning to the list for the first time since 2009 after he lost a big chunk of his fortune during the financial crisis. On the flip side, Macau no longer has any billionaires as China's crackdown on corruption crippled the explosive growth of Asia's gambling mecca.
From South Korean Lee Kun-Hee’s Samsung to Austrian Dietrich Mateschitz’s Red Bull, many well-known international brands in our daily life are founded by the richest people of the 70 represented countries. Find out who they are in the full list below and check out our definitive ranking.
Algeria
577. Issad Rebrab & family
Net Worth: $3.1 B
Source of wealth: food
Angola
534. Isabel dos Santos
Net Worth: $3.3 B
Source of wealth: investments
Argentina
283. Carlos and Alejandro Bulgheroni
Net Worth: $5.3 B
Source of wealth: oil and gas
Australia
94. Gina Rinehart
Net Worth: $12.3 B
Source of wealth: mining
Austria
116. Dietrich Mateschitz
Net Worth: $10.8 B
Source of wealth: Red Bull
Belgium
318. Albert Frere
Net Worth: $4.9 B
Source of wealth: investments
Brazil
26. Jorge Paulo Lemann
Net Worth: $25 B
Source of wealth: beer
Canada
25. David Thomson & family
Net Worth: $25.5 B
Source of wealth: media
Chile
82. Iris Fontbona & family
Net Worth: $13.5 B
Source of wealth: mining
China
29. Wang Jianlin
Net Worth: $24.2 B
Source of wealth: real estate
Colombia
85. Luis Carlos Sarmiento
Net Worth: $13.4 B
Source of wealth: banking
Cyprus
120. John Fredriksen
Net Worth: $10.5 B
Source of wealth: shipping
Czech Republic
160. Petr Kellner
Net Worth: $8.4 B
Source of wealth: banking, insurance
Denmark
129. Kjeld Kirk Kristiansen
Net Worth: $9.7 B
Source of wealth: Lego
Egypt
225. Nassef Sawiris
Net Worth: $6.3 B
Source of wealth: construction
Finland
481. Antti Herlin
Net Worth: $3.6 B
Source of wealth: elevators, escalators
France
10. Liliane Bettencourt & family
Net Worth: $40.1 B
Source of wealth: L'Oreal
Georgia
291. Bidzina Ivanishvili
Net Worth: $5.2 B
Source of wealth: investments
Germany
21. Georg Schaeffler
Net Worth: $26.9 B
Source of wealth: ball bearings
Greece
737. Philip Niarchos
Net Worth: $2.5 B
Source of wealth: art collection
Guatemala
1741. Mario Lopez Estrada
Net Worth: $1 B
Source of wealth: telecom
Guernsey
1054. Stephen Lansdown
Net Worth: $1.8 B
Source of wealth: financial services
Hong Kong
17. Li Ka-shing
Net Worth: $33.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Iceland
1415. Bjorgolfur Thor Bjorgolfsson
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
India
39. Mukesh Ambani
Net Worth: $21 B
Source of wealth: petrochemicals, oil & gas
Indonesia
142. R. Budi Hartono
Net Worth: $9 B
Source of wealth: banking, tobacco
Ireland
55. Pallonji Mistry
Net Worth: $16.3 B
Source of wealth: construction
Israel
156. Eyal Ofer
Net Worth: $8.5 B
Source of wealth: real estate, shipping
Italy
32. Maria Franca Fissolo & family
Net Worth: $23.4 B
Source of wealth: Nutella, chocolates
Japan
41. Tadashi Yanai & family
Net Worth: $20.2 B
Source of wealth: retail
Kazakhstan
714. Bulat Utemuratov
Net Worth: $2.6 B
Source of wealth: mining, banking, hotels
Kuwait
1500. Fawzi Al-Kharafi
Net Worth: $1.25 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Lebanon
534. Najib Mikati
Net Worth: $3.3 B
Source of wealth: telecom
Lithuania
1741. Nerijus Numavicius
Net Worth: $1 B
Source of wealth: retail, pharmacy
Malaysia
110. Robert Kuok
Net Worth: $11.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Mexico
2. Carlos Slim Helu & family
Net Worth: $77.1 B
Source of wealth: telecom
Monaco
1044. David Nahmad
Net Worth: $1.85 B
Source of wealth: art
Morocco
810. Othman Benjelloun
Net Worth: $2.3 B
Source of wealth: banking, insurance
Nepal
1415. Binod Chaudhary & family
Net Worth: $1.3 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Netherlands
107. Charlene de Carvalho-Heineken
Net Worth: $11.6 B
Source of wealth: Heineken
New Zealand
195. Graeme Hart
Net Worth: $6.9 B
Source of wealth: investments
Nigeria
67. Aliko Dangote
Net Worth: $14.7 B
Source of wealth: cement, sugar, flour
Norway
291. Odd Reitan
Net Worth: $5.2 B
Source of wealth: supermarkets
Oman
1533. Mohammed Al Barwani
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Source of wealth: oil
Peru
894. Carlos Rodriguez-Pastor
Net Worth: $2.1 B
Source of wealth: finance
Philippines
73. Henry Sy & family
Net Worth: $14.2 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Poland
418. Jan Kulczyk
Net Worth: $4 B
Source of wealth: telecom, oil, beer
Portugal
369. Americo Amorim
Net Worth: $4.4 B
Source of wealth: energy, investments
Romania
1605. Ioan Niculae
Net Worth: $1.15 B
Source of wealth: agriculture
Russia
60. Vladimir Potanin
Net Worth: $15.4 B
Source of wealth: metals
Saudi Arabia
34. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal Alsaud
Net Worth: $22.6 B
Source of wealth: investments
Singapore
131. Robert & Philip Ng
Net Worth: $9.6 B
Source of wealth: real estate
South Africa
179. Johann Rupert & family
Net Worth: $7.4 B
Source of wealth: luxury goods
South Korea
110. Lee Kun-Hee
Net Worth: $11.3 B
Source of wealth: electronics/insurance
Spain
4. Amancio Ortega
Net Worth: $64.5 B
Source of wealth: Zara
St. Kitts and Nevis
1533. Jacky Xu
Net Worth: $1.2 B
Source of wealth: apparel
Swaziland
435. Nathan Kirsh
Net Worth: $3.9 B
Source of wealth: retail, real estate
Sweden
28. Stefan Persson
Net Worth: $24.5 B
Source of wealth: H&M
Switzerland
149. Ernesto Bertarelli
Net Worth: $8.8 B
Source of wealth: biotech, investments
Taiwan
147. Tsai Eng-Meng
Net Worth: $8.9 B
Source of wealth: food, beverages
Tanzania
1500. Mohammed Dewji
Net Worth: $1.25 B
Source of wealth: diversified
Thailand
81. Dhanin Chearavanont
Net Worth: $13.6 B
Source of wealth: food
Turkey
369. Murat Ulker
Net Worth: $4.4 B
Source of wealth: food manufacturing
Uganda
1638. Sudhir Ruparelia
Net Worth: $1.1 B
Source of wealth: real estate
Ukraine
201. Rinat Akhmetov
Net Worth: $6.7 B
Source of wealth: steel, coal
United Arab Emirates
220. Abdulla bin Ahmad Al Ghurair & family
Net Worth: $6.4 B
Source of wealth: diversified
United Kingdom
69. Hinduja Brothers
Net Worth: $14.5 B
Source of wealth: diversified
United States
1. Bill Gates
Net Worth: $79.2 B
Source of wealth: Microsoft
Venezuela
481. Gustavo Cisneros & family
Net Worth: $3.6 B
Source of wealth: media
Vietnam
1118. Pham Nhat Vuong
Net Worth: $1.7 B
Source of wealth: real estate
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