The Top 5 Richest People in the World

 

The influence of billionaires on the world's politics, business, and philanthropy is enormous. According to Forbes, there will be 2,640 billionaires in the globe in 2023. The chairman of LVMH, Bernard Arnault, is the richest of them all.

The people on this list are members of an even smaller group and hold even greater authority. A large portion of the wealth of many technological industry titans' founders is still vested in the businesses they founded.

The Top 5 Richest People in the World

To avoid selling stock, these billionaires can still borrow against their wealth, which will delay (or eliminate for heirs) taxes on unrealized capital gains. A variety of tax deductions are available to multi-billionaires, allowing them to balance their reported income. As a result some of the people on this list have recently paid no income tax.

The wealthiest people's net worth might change with market valuations because a large portion of their assets are publicly traded securities. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, for instance, saw a rise in his net worth in 2021 as a result of the company share price growth. From $264.51 on January 1st, 2021, to $352.26 on December 1st, 2021, Tesla shares increased.

His net worth also decreased in 2022 as a result of the declining share price of Tesla, which he owns 13% of, like a pendulum. To pay for his acquisition of Twitter, Musk also had to sell a significant portion of his Tesla stock. Because of  Bernard Arnault overtook him  the richest man in the world.

 

Musk might have reclaimed the title of world's richest person in January and February 2023 had Tesla's share price increased, but due to market volatility, he is presently ranked second.

Similar to how Mark Zuckerberg, the founder and CEO of Meta Platforms (META), dropped from the top 5 in February 2022 when the value of the company's stock increased

The Bloomberg Billionaires Index has listed the top 10 global earners in the table below. Unless otherwise specified, all numbers are accurate as of April 6, 2023.

 

POINTS TO NOTE

With a net worth of $199 billion, LVMH chairman and world's richest man Bernard Arnault is the richest person.

 

Elon Musk, who runs Tesla and SpaceX, comes after Arnault as company president.

The creator of Amazon, Jeff Bezos, Bill Gates of Microsoft, and the only woman on the list, Francoise Betcourt Meyers of L'Oréal, are among the other billionaires with some of the highest net worths.

The exceptions to this rule include Arnault, Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway, and Francoise Bettencourt Meyers of L'Oreal. Seven of the top 10 billionaires made their wealth in the technology sector.

In February 2022, Mark Zuckerberg of 2 Meta fell out of the top 5

 

Bernard Arnault

 

·       Age: 74

·       habitation: Paris

·       Chairman and CEO: LVMH (LVMUY)

·       Value: $199 billion

·       Dior, Christian 97.5% ownership stake ($157 billion in total)

·       Other Resources: Equity ($31.2 billion public asset) and cash ($11.2 billion) from Moelis & Company

 

French citizen The largest luxury goods corporation in the world, LVMH, is led by Bernard Arnault as chair and CEO. Louis Vuitton, Hennessy, Marc Jacobs, and Sephora are just a few of the LVMH brands.

The vast majority of Arnault's fortune is derived from his ownership of Christian Dior SE, the holding company that owns 41.4% of LVMH. Through his family-owned holding firm, Groupe Familial Arnault, he holds shares in Christian Dior SE as well as an extra 6.2% in LVMH.

By profession, Arnault is an engineer, but before assuming leadership of Ferret-Savinel in 1971, he first shown his financial savvy while working there. In 1979, he changed Ferret-Savinel into Férinel Inc., a real estate business.

For another six years, Arnault served as the chairman of Férinel. In 1984, he bought and reorganised the Financière Agache company, selling all of its properties except for Christian Dior and Le Bon Marché. In 1987, he received an invitation to invest in LVMH; two years later, he was named the company's largest shareholder, board chair, and CEO.

 

Elon Musk

 

·       1.Age: 51

·       habitation: Texas

·       Tesla's co-founder and CEO

·       Value: $172 billion

·       13% of Tesla's ownership ($63.9 billion)

·       79% of Twitter's ownership ($9.65 billion)

·       13 Other Assets: The Boring Company ($3.33 billion private asset), Space Exploration Technologies ($48.9 billion private asset).

The second richest person in the world is Elon Musk. He was raised in South Africa and graduate with bachelor degree in economics and physics from the University of Pennsylvania after first enrolling at a Canadian university. Musk postponed attending Stanford University's graduate physics programme two days after enrolling in order to establish Zip2, one of the first internet navigation services. He contribute a portion of the startup earning to build X.com, an online payment platform that was later purchased by eBay (EBAY) and transformed into PayPal Holdings. (PYPL).

Musk present position as CEO of the electric vehicle company was made possible by his role as a major investor in Tesla Motors (now Tesla) in 2004. Tesla manufactures energy storage systems, automotive accessories, and solar power systems thanks to its 2016 acquisition of SolarCity, in addition to its range of electric cars. Musk is  the founder and CEO of Space Exploration Technology (SpaceX), a company that makes rockets for space launche.

Massachusetts Democrat and U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren used a media claim that Musk didn't pay any income taxes in 2018 to support the introduction of a wealth tax. Musk answered on Twitter, "And if you opened your eyes for two seconds, you would realise I will pay more taxes than any American in history this year."

Musk's lead in the worldwide wealth rankings grew as a result of the 2021 jump in Tesla share prices and unreported transactions that increased SpaceX's stated valuation. In Nov. 2021, his net worth peaked at $340 billion.

Musk launched a campaign to take Twitter private in April 2022, which resulted in a $44 billion purchase. Musk intended to invest $21 billion in the transaction.

Musk made the decision to back out of the purchase of Twitter in July 2022. Twitter sued Musk in an effort to make the buyout happen. Musk countersued the business but later changed his mind and said he was still prepared to buy Twitter. When the acquisition was finally completed in October 2022, he had roughly 80% of the company.

 

Jeff Bezos

·       Age: 59

·       habitation: Washington

·       Amazon is the founder and executive chair. (AMZN)

·       Value: $125 billion

·       10% ($100 billion) ownership stake in Amazon

·       Other assets include The Washington Post ($250 million in private assets), Blue Origin ($11.2 billion in private assets), and $13.3 billion in cash.

Jeff Bezos founded Amazon.com in a Seattle garage shortly after leaving the prestigious hedge fund D.E. Shaw in 1994. His former boss David E. Shaw was uninterested when he first suggested starting an internet bookstore.

Although Amazon primarily focused on selling books, it has since expanded into a one-stop shop for all things related to the sun and is predicted to surpass Walmart as the biggest retailer in the world by 2024. Some of Amazon's unanticipated growths, including the company's acquisition of Whole Foods in 2017 and entry into the pharmaceutical industry that same year, are indicative of the company's pattern of ongoing diversification.

Before surrendering 4% to his ex-wife, MacKenzie Scott, as part of their divorce procedures, Bezos controlled as much as 16% of Amazon in 2019. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic's increased desire for online shopping, Amazon's share price increased 76% in 2020. Bezos became the company's executive chair after leaving his position as the e-commerce behemoth's CEO on July 5, 2021.

Bezos first made Amazon publicly available in 1997, and in 1999, he overtook Bill Gates as the first person to have a net worth of $100 billion. The aerospace firm Blue Origin, The Washington Post (which he acquired in 2013), and the 10,000-year clock, commonly referred to as the Long Now, are among Bezos' other endeavours.

·       Bill Gates

·       Age: 67

·       Living in Washington; Microsoft co-founder (MSFT)

·       Value: $120 billion

·       1.4% of Microsoft's ownership ($29.3 billion)

·       more Assets: Cash of $59.6 billion and billions in numerous more businesses

In 1975, while still a student at Harvard, Bill Gates joined his childhood friend Paul Allen in creating new software for the first microcomputers. After the success of this effort, Gates left Harvard in his junior year and co-founded Microsoft with Allen.

Microsoft, the biggest software maker in the world, also makes a line of personal computers, offers email services via its exchange server, and sells video game consoles and related gaming accessories. It recently made significant investments in cloud services.

A large portion of Bill Gates' wealth is held via Cascade Investment LLC. Canadian National Railway (CNR), Deere (DE), and Republic Services (RSG) are just a few of the companies that Cascade owns. It also has private investments in real estate and energy.

 

Warren Buffett

·       Age: 92

·       Hometown: Nebraska

·       Berkshire Hathaway's CEO (BRK.A)

·       Value: $108 billion

·       Burroughs Hathaway 14% of the total ($107 billion) ownership

·       Other Assets: Cash of $1.18 billion

 

Warren Buffett, the most well-known living value investor, filed his first tax return in 1944 when he was 14 years old, disclosing revenues from his childhood paper route. In 1962, he made his first investment in Berkshire Hathaway, a textile business, and by 1965, he had acquired the majority of the company's shares. In 1967, Buffett added insurance and other investments to the company's holdings.

Buffett, a buy-and-hold investor widely referred to as the Oracle of Omaha, made his fortune by purchasing undervalued businesses. Berkshire Hathaway has made investments in significant, well-known corporations more lately. Interests in insurance, energy distribution, and other industries are among its completely owned subsidiaries.

A large portion of Buffett wealth has been devote philanthropy. He donated $41 billion between 2006 and 2020, the majority of which went to the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and his childrens causes. Together with Bill Gates Buffett introduced the Giving Pledge in 2010.

Despite being 92 years old, Buffett is still the company's CEO, but in 2021 he made a suggestion that Gregory Abel, who oversees Berkshire's non-insurance operations, might take over as CEO.